And yet, she couldn’t face the reality of that “next” quite yet. Her parents were handled; her friends were asleep. The future was on hold for everyone else in the stillness of the night. Why couldn’t it be on hold for her too? Why couldn’t she simply imagine a future with this man, an impossible, ridiculous future that she could wake up from in the morning? The morning was so far away, after all. “Why?” she blinked her eyes open again and managed a smile, trying to match her tone to his. She could do “light.” She could do “fun.” “What do you want to give me?”
“Everything,” Dimitri’s intensity wiped the smile from her face and she jerked back, startled. “Anything, all of it. Whatever you will allow me to give. You’re the reason I was born into this life, Lauren. The only reason. And I want you, however you are willing to be in my life. I’ll take you as your bodyguard, as your lover, or as your friend—or all of them. As long as I can be near you, protect you. Because though Henry is gone, there is no denying the light that shines from you, a light that only grows brighter as you draw near. There will always be someone who will want to dim that light. Who will want to make you feel less than what you are. And I want to always be there to ensure that doesn’t happen.”
What is he saying? “You can't mean that.” Lauren didn’t recognize her own voice. “You barely know me.”
“Then it will be my pleasure to get to know you better. Starting now.”
“But this is impossible.”
“No.” He took her hands, which she hadn’t realized were flapping in front of her, and held them between his rough palms. The raw vitality of him radiated through her, and she held still, transfixed by the fierceness of his gaze. “Flying to the moon and back in a single night is impossible. Loving you is not. You’re mine to protect, now. You might not understand that, might not know how to handle it, but that doesn’t change its truth.”
“Dimitri—”
“You're mine to defend, Lauren. However and whenever I can.” Dimitri’s words were low and intense and impossible to ignore. “Mine to cherish in my heart, whether you’re a breath or a lifetime away. Mine to honor, whether you’re by my side or you never let me see you again. Mine to love.”
“Love? Who said anything about love?” There were tears in her eyes. Why were there tears? This was a conversation like any conversation. A negotiation, even. Nothing more. She should hold her face just so, tilt her body slightly to an angle, fix this particular expression on her face…
Except the tears were ruining everything.
“Why are you crying?” Dimitri rumbled, drifting a calloused thumb across her cheek.
“I don’t know! You’re doing this all wrong. You’re doing everything all wrong!” She shook her head, trying to make sense of his words. “You can’t love me, Dimitri, you can’t be with me. You have a life. A service to the military, to your people—to Ari. I can’t take that from you. I won’t take that from you.”
“Then you will have a home here.”
“Yes, I—what?”
He smiled, so gorgeously full of life that it was breathtaking. “You’ll have a home here, in the beautiful lush land of Garronia, a home that flows down to the sea. Where the skies are endless and the water is the blue and green of a million jewels trapped beneath its waves.”
"I have work to do…” Her voice faltered. Is he really offering this?
“And I have time, Lauren Grant. However you want me in your life, I will be there. I will keep you safe. I will help you reach whatever goals you fix your heart upon, and I will love you more with every passing day. It’s really as simple as that.”
“But…” She searched his face, struggling to understand. “You can’t mean any of this.”
“I’m pretty sure I can.” He smiled. “But if you don’t mind, I feel there’s some better use of our time than negotiating the terms of this deal you believe is so impossible.”
And he kissed her.
It was as if he had never truly breathed before that moment. Standing in the middle of the palace of Garronia, with the beautiful, infuriating woman in his arms, the woman who was his purpose and his future, Dimitri felt beyond perfect. He felt vindicated. He felt healed. He dragged Lauren closer to him and kissed her more deeply, reveling as she relaxed against him, her tears streaming down her face. They made her, if possible, lovelier, her perfect veneer cracking because of him. Because of the emotions he was making her feel.
“Dimitri,” she gasped at length, drawing away from him far enough to rest her head against his chest. His arms slipped naturally around her, the rock that she would always have, as long as she wanted it. As long as she wanted him. And whether that was a moment or an eternity, it would be enough. “Truly. You can’t mean all this.”
He rumbled a laugh, drifting a soft kiss over her hair. “You keep saying that,” he murmured. “You are smart, resourceful, caring, determined. These are all things that are easy to love in a woman.”
“But…” Lauren blew out a long breath, struggling for composure. She won it after another moment. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s say for the sake of argument we, um, date.” Lauren shook her head at the word. “And let’s say I finally start working in earnest, and I’m in Dubai or something and you are…here. How is that going to work?”
He shrugged. “Perhaps I will go to Dubai to meet you. It is not so far as that. Or you shall come here to meet me. And we shall have that house to find for you, remember. That will take some time.”
“But your work…and Ari. You’ll be assigned to go find him, won’t you?”
“No. I am a visible part of the GNSF. I’m not the man ever chosen for covert work. First, I am too handsome. Second, I am too big. Very noticeable, especially around the Turks. It would be foolish to send me.”
Lauren’s tension cracked a little as she smiled, her gaze searching his face. “You want to go, though.”
He sighed. “I want to go. However, for the good of Garronia, for the good of Ari, I will stay. I have my men to train, and Cyril will not rest easy unless he is giving someone orders. With Kristos embracing his role as prince, he has no one but me to yell at.”
“And what about Kristos? If Ari is actually alive—if he comes back—what happens to him?”
“This is a problem worth having, no? Kristos would be the first to say. Before this week, I would say he would have returned to the military in a heartbeat. Now, with Emmaline in his life and constantly on his mind, he may find a different role to play.”
Lauren’s lips turned down. “But he won’t be able to be crown prince? That’s off the table?”
Dimitri rumbled a laugh. “You make it sound like he is being kicked out of the country. There are many roles for royals in Garronia—there needs to be. We have noble blood coming out our ears.”
She frowned at him. “You do?”
“Ceremonial, mostly, but yes, we do. A long line of fighting princes, spread over every rock and ravine.” He heaved a long sigh. “You see, there is much for you to learn about our country. It is good that you will have a few more days here now.” He watched her face. “Unless you would rather be traveling in Paris than here while decisions are being made about the search for Ari? It would appear that Nicki seems intent on her ability to assist with the investigation. Which she will not be allowed to do, I must tell you. Stefan would sooner eat his own tongue than go on a mission with an American civilian. Especially an American civilian who gets under his skin. No.” Dimitri shook his head. “She would be at best a distraction, and at worst a liability.”
“Well, she’s not so useless as all that,” Lauren said, frowning. “She can run and shoot and fight as well as any man—even with her smaller size. She can swim. And she’s fierce.”
Dimitri laughed. “And so are you when it comes to defending your friends. I can assure you, we will have no reason to bring a civilian into Ari’s rescue, if he is truly alive. You Americans have done enough rescuing already.”
As if she sensed the chan
ging, more intimate tone in his voice, Lauren dropped her gaze, focusing on his chest. “You make everything seem so easy. You don’t know me, Dimitri, not really. This is a vacation, not real life.”
“It is real life, Lauren,” he said gently. “My life, anyway. I have already decided that my lot is to be by your side. It is up to you to do all the deciding now.”
Lauren fought not to burst into tears again. Instead, she closed her eyes again, willing herself toward calm. Which was why she didn’t see Dimitri as he leaned toward her, didn’t know he was doing that until he brushed his lips against her brow. “You don’t need to compose your face into the perfect smile, Lauren,” he murmured. “There is no one to see you but me, and I have already seen the truth.”
“You haven’t,” she said, shaking her head. But she opened her eyes again, struggling to see him clearly. “You don’t know anything about the truth of how I feel.”
Dimitri’s own smile was infinitely tender. “I do. You were on your knees and pleading for my life not six hours ago, princess. You don’t do that for a mere bodyguard, not that convincingly.”
“I’m a very good actress.”
“You’re a very good actress to someone who has not held you in his arms and watched you sleep. You’re a very good actress to someone who has not sat across from you as you tried to lie your way out of a conversation time after time after time. You’re a very good actress to someone who has not seen you defend your friends, whether in public or in the bedroom of a castle, or to someone who has not seen your face when you thought all was lost.”
“Really.” She scowled up at him. “And what are you seeing now?”
“I see a woman who is in love but not sure she should let herself be, a woman so used to disappointment in life—in her perfectly arranged and beautifully decorated life—that she pushes away the possibility of great joy if only to avoid the potential of pain or mediocrity. And I see a woman who has not stopped touching me since we met. Who has been unable stop looking at me since we met.”
“That’s not true!” Embarrassment flooded her cheeks, but Dimitri picked her up bodily and held her to him, bending her back as he kissed her lips, the unbandaged portion of her neck, every inch of her skin that he could reach.
“It’s not only true, it’s a good thing,” he said, his breath hot against her skin. “Because since the moment you strode into the prince’s circle on the beach two weeks ago, I’ve not been able to stop looking at you, touching you, tasting you. And I don’t plan on giving that up anytime soon.” He held her close. “So what will it be? Will you give this future a try, or will you return to your pale walls and pale men and pale life?”
“It has to be on my terms,” Lauren said, sounding desperate to her own ears. Desperate—and strangely right too. “My world. My terms.”
“Of course,” he said. “And what are your terms, Lauren Grant, so that I’m sure to get them straight?”
“I’m working on that.” She stared at him, disbelieving but unable to deny the fierce resolve in his gaze, in his body, in his strength. He was giving her…everything. If only she could take it. If only she would. “I do know I want you in my life, though. Here, wherever. Until I change my mind—or you do—or—”
“We will handle any changes as they come,” he allowed. “But until then…”
“Until then…” She sighed and met his gaze head-on, pouring everything she couldn’t say into the only words she could. “Please don’t let go of me, Dimitri. Please don’t ever let me go.”
He grinned and drew her close once more. “Your wish is my command, princess.”
A Note from Jennifer Chance
If you enjoyed Lauren and Dimitri’s story, please consider leaving a review to help more readers discover these books! I’m also delighted to share that the next book in the Gowns & Crowns series is Nicki’s tale, CLAIMED—about a fiercely brash go-getter who can’t trust her heart…and the coolly sophisticated spy who steals it from her.
Available Summer 2016!
Also by Jennifer Chance
Courted - Gowns & Crowns, Book 1
"An awesomely fun, modern day fairy tale!"
Lori Foster, NYT bestselling author
Aspiring concert violist Emmaline Aurora Grace Andrews is torn between her love of family and her love of music. A year ago, she deferred entering a prestigious graduate program to help her parents recover from a devastating accident. Now the deferment is expiring, but her parents still need her. Worse, every time she plays her audition piece, she mangles it. Is it too late to be the musician she'd always dreamed of? Should she even try?
Determined to get clarity, Emmaline accepts a friend's offer for a whirlwind European vacation. First Stop: a real live fantasy kingdom--the perfect place to sort wishes from reality.
Prince Kristos Andris was a respected captain in his nation's military... Was. In the wake of the tragic death of his elder brother, he's managed to avoid his duties as the new Crown Prince of Garronia for months. But now he must accept his responsibilities and leave his troops behind. Outraged at the restrictions of his new royal position, he'll do anything for one last adventure. So when opportunity suddenly lands in his arms in the form of a dreamy-eyed American girl, he embraces it (and her) for all he's worth. What's the harm in a quick fling, after all? It won't change what he knows he must do...
Only this is Garronia in the summertime, where passion has a way of ruining even the most sensible of plans.
Kindle | Nook | iBooks | Kobo
Acknowledgments
As always, huge thanks to my editor, Linda Ingmanson, and proofreader, Toni Lee, who never cease to amaze me. Any remaining errors are definitely my own. To Liz Bemis of Bemis Promotions, I still love my covers and your formatting skills continue to amaze. To Danielle Barclay and Cameron Yeager of Barclay Publicity, I have enjoyed every project with you—thank you for keeping me on my toes! And to Jennifer Dickey and Laurie Clark, thank you for your thoughts and suggestions on some of the factual elements in this tale. I won’t share what, so as not to incriminate you should I have gotten anything wrong.
And to those readers who have continued the journey with the romantic royals of Garronia, thank you. And keep on dreaming.
About Jennifer Chance
Jennifer Chance is the award-winning author of the new adult Rule Breakers and Gowns & Crowns series. A lover of books, romance, and happily-ever-afters, she lives and writes in Ohio. She’s also urban fantasy author Jenn Stark, and YA author Jennifer McGowan. She really, truly, loves to write.
When she’s not writing, you can find her online at http://www.jenniferchance.com/, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/authorJenniferChance and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Jenn_Chance.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
A Note from Jennifer Chance
Also by Jennifer Chance
Acknowledgments
-ms-filter: grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share
Captured (Gowns & Crowns #2) Page 23
