“Well, I don’t have any official engagements and I’m not required to attend the ball. Quite honestly, I’m sick of this freezing weather. I need to get away.”
“Seeing we have a guest staying with us, I would think you could stay and entertain him,” Johann said crisply.
Jack exchanged a glance with Lara who instantly lowered her eyes. He took a sip of his coffee. Hmm, a family disagreement. Interesting.
“Sir, Mr. Lucas is Lara’s guest, not mine. I’m sure he won’t mind if I disappear for a few days, would you, Jack?”
Yep. Drop me in it, why don’t you. He decided he didn’t particularly like the Crown Prince.
Francesca hurriedly came to Jack’s rescue. “We will discuss this later, Carl. Mr. Lucas, would you like Lara to take you riding this afternoon if you’re not too jet-lagged? We have excellent horses and a superb indoor school.”
“Are you mad, Mother? Lara shouldn’t go riding in her condition.”
Following Carl’s outspoken statement, there was an embarrassing silence. Even Carl realized he had blundered but was too intoxicated to let it go. “Well, she shouldn’t. It’s no good avoiding the issue and pretending Jack is here for any other reason than the fact that Lara is having his baby.”
Lara turned on Carl, her color high as her eyes flashed with fury. “Shut up, Carl. You’re drunk.”
Jack decided it was time to defuse the situation. He turned to Francesca. “Actually, I don’t ride.”
“You don’t ride?” The voices of the king and queen and Carl were in unison as they stared at Jack.
“Unfortunately, no. But I’m good at fishing.”
There was another one of the silences and then Lara laughed, a delightful sound, her face alight with humor. You are the most gorgeous creature ever created, he thought as he grinned in response. By this time both the king and queen had seen the funny side and it was only Carl who looked sullen. Pushing back his chair in a violent gesture, he stormed from the room, which caused Lara to break into more peals of laughter.
“Mr. Lucas, I’m very sorry you’ve been embarrassed by my son,” Francesca said, bringing her laughter under control with an effort as she lightly touched Jack’s arm.
“Your Majesty, I’m not concerned,” he replied. “Perhaps without realizing it, the Crown Prince has broken the ice.”
Looking thoughtful, Francesca replied, “Perhaps he has.”
“Lara, why don’t you show Mr. Lucas around the palace this afternoon,” Johann suggested, effectively capturing his daughter’s attention.
Francesca nodded her head in agreement. “That’s a good idea. Then I’m sure you’ll both want an early night following that tiring journey.”
He glanced at Lara trying to gauge her response. It would seem her parents were comfortable with them spending their time together. Good. He hoped she felt the same way.
“You haven’t forgotten the palace ball is only two days away, have you, Lara?” Francesca’s tone was light as she rose from her chair, but Jack sensed an underlying warning in her voice.
Lara sighed. “No, I haven’t forgotten. I gather Michael’s arriving tomorrow, which is one of the reasons you wanted me home.”
Francesca turned to Jack, who had immediately stood as the king and queen prepared to leave. “Prince Michael is a distant relative, Mr. Lucas. He joins us at this time every year to attend the ball.” She hesitated and glanced at her husband standing beside her. Lowering her voice, she said, “Actually, we know the ball is just an excuse for Prince Michael to visit. He is really coming to ask for Lara’s hand in marriage—again.”
Jack wondered if his expression had changed as a sudden bitter jealousy stirred inside him.
“Mummy, Jack’s not interested in hearing this,” Lara quickly intercepted.
“I can assure you I am.” He was just as quick. “I mean, if you are pregnant, this could ruin your chances of marrying the prince,” he said, his voice silkily soft.
“No it won’t, Mr. Lucas. Lara knows very well that Michael is so besotted with her, he would accept her as his bride on any terms.” Francesca fingered the pearls at her throat as she made the damning statement.
Johann was obviously as uncomfortable with the conversation as Lara and Jack as he said gruffly, “Enough. I don’t want to hear any more about it. Lara, show our guest how courteous we can be and give Jack a tour of the palace.”
“Yes, sir.” She gave a bob curtsey and caught Jack’s arm to draw him away.
“Just a moment.” The queen moved closer and Jack could see who the controlling influence was in the royal family. “The king would like you to join him for a game of billiards and an aperitif at six o’clock, if that is all right with you? Then perhaps you and Lara would care to dine in her suite this evening and have some time on your own.”
He gave a formal nod of acknowledgement aware of the pressure on his arm as Lara endeavored to pull him away. What the hell is going on? The king wants to meet with me? Perhaps he was doomed with a stay in the dungeons after all.
~ * ~
Lara breathed a sigh of relief as she led Jack through the grand hall toward their suites. What a dreadful situation. Her brother drunk and speaking out of turn; her father annoyed and grumpy and her mother busy manipulating something—Lara didn’t know what. And she’d been worried as to whether Jack would be an embarrassment. It was her own family that had shamed her while he had been a true gentleman. The soul of discretion.
“Hey, wait a minute, Lara. Why are we almost running? It’s as if you’re escaping the scene of a crime.” He stopped in the middle of the hall forcing her to stop.
She faced him. “I am very sorry. I’m mortified at my family’s behavior.” Her face burned with humiliation.
Touching her cheek with a gentle finger, his smile was so tender her insides just about melted. “Is there somewhere private we can go and discuss that eventful lunch?” he asked, lifting one dark eyebrow.
“We’ll go to my suite. No one will disturb us there.”
She led the way up the marble staircase and through a maze of corridors until she unlocked the doors to her apartment.
“This is some place,” he said, looking around at the large study they were in.
“Yes, it’s nice. There’s a dining room and two bedrooms with a restroom and also a kitchen.” She crossed to the bar in the corner of the study and poured two mineral waters, handing one to Jack.
“At least your brother’s comment opened things up a bit.” He took the glass and leaning against the large sofa, loosened his tie with his other hand.
She stood a few feet away and took a swallow of water. “I was so embarrassed I wanted to hide under the table.” She gave a rueful grin.
“Does Carl normally drink to that extent?”
“I’m not aware of it, but I haven’t been home since the summer, and Carl was away in the States for most of the time I was here.”
She studied him beneath her lashes. He looked casual and raffish and as she watched, he placed his glass on a nearby table and removed his jacket. She could see the ripples of his muscles beneath the pale blue material as he once again turned to face her.
“Why do you suppose the king wants to have a drink with me this evening?” His manner was suddenly intent, his eyes very blue in the reflected light from the huge windows behind her. “You’d better fill me in, Lara. I don’t like surprises.”
“Neither of my parents has spoken about you since my phone call with my mother. If I were to take a guess, I think my father will offer you money to get you out of my life.”
“Charming.”
“But, it will be done in the most diplomatic way so you don’t feel inclined to inform the media.” She knew she sounded disloyal to her parents, but he deserved to know the likely outcome of his meeting with the king.
Jack sighed and she wondered what he was thinking. Surely, he would take the money. He must need it and he would know there was no future for them. But then, who was s
he kidding. He didn’t want to be with her and was only here because he had been threatened with prison on a trumped up charge of kidnapping if he’d refused to accompany her to Challoner. It was a wonder he didn’t hate her, and her family.
“So, you’re saying the king is going to buy me off?” He took the few steps to bring him closer. “What if I don’t want to be bought?”
She studied the buttons on his shirt and the strong column of his neck with the hollow at the base of his throat. When they had made love on the island, she’d pressed her lips against that golden hollow, caressing the warm texture of his skin. Even now she could almost taste the slight saltiness as his hands had aroused her, working their special kind of magic on her innocent body making her cry out for his possession.
“That’s up to you.” Her voice was breathless and she trembled as he lifted his hands to cup her face.
“No amount of money could pay for what you and I shared,” he said softly. “Besides, your parents still have to address the problem of your potential pregnancy.”
“They could try and persuade me to have an abortion.” Even as she made the blunt statement, she knew she should have kept quiet. Jack’s expression changed from sensual longing to one of shock as he dropped his hands to his sides.
“Your parents would ask you to have an abortion? I can’t believe it.” He turned and picking up a cushion from the sofa punched it with his fist in a furious gesture.
“Jack, I have no idea.” She floundered, not knowing what her parents might suggest. “I’m probably doing them an injustice,” she stumbled on. “Besides, if I was pregnant, I would never have an abortion. Never. But, they could insist I marry Michael, as my mother indicated.”
“Ah, yes. His Royal Highness, Prince Michael, who is besotted with you, so I’m led to believe.” His face hardened and his mouth tightened into a thin, uncompromising line. “Do you love this man?”
“I have known him since I was a child. He’s much older than I but he is kind and…”
He moved closer, his face inches from hers. “I said do you love him?”
“No.”
“So, there are two options, which you think your parents are considering. One is to pay me off even if you are expecting my child, which tells me I’m not good enough to be involved with their royal daughter. Number two, if you’re pregnant, and only you and I know you’re not, is to marry you to some older royal who is crazy about you and willing to accept another man’s child as his own.”
She gaped at him. Was that how Jack saw things? Didn’t he know she would never marry Michael no matter what happened and when the time came for him to leave, he would take her heart with him?
Greatly daring, she placed her arms around him, her fingers touching the thick, silky hair at the nape of his neck. “Please, don’t let’s discuss it now. We have this time together, these stolen hours and days. You said on the island that if you’d had protection, you would have made love to me. Do you still want to?”
“What sort of question is that? You know I do.” He pulled her close, his hands caressing her back and then sliding over her bottom, lifting her against him. She arched toward him as the hardness of his arousal pressed into her.
His kiss was demanding as his tongue parted her lips. With a sharp intake of breath, she returned his kisses, her control slipping as Jack pushed her against the back of the sofa, his fingers unfastening the buttons of her suit jacket as they continued to kiss.
“Christ, Lara. What do you want from me,” he murmured as he pulled aside her bra straps and bent to kiss her exposed nipples, arousing a melting desire in her. She circled her legs around him, her skirt riding above her waist allowing Jack’s sex to press into the soft core of her body. She moaned aloud, her being flooded with passion as he moved against her in an erotic rhythm.
“I want you to be the man to take my virginity,” she gasped, on the verge of her climax.
He stilled and lifted his head. His eyes were suddenly filled with contempt as he stared at her. Lowering her to the floor, he pulled her straps into place and straightened her skirt.
“It really turns you on, doesn’t it?” His voice was bitter.
Still trembling with the passion he had evoked, she was confused at his words. She pulled on her jacket.
“I don’t understand.”
“I don’t know how I could have been so stupid not to realize it before. The thought of having it off with a common fisherman excites you. You know you’ll lose your virginity at sometime, so you’ve chosen me to be the one. You reckon I’m a good stud and you’ll enjoy yourself knowing I can give you the sexual gratification you crave. Then I’ll be gone and you won’t need to be bothered with me anymore. I’ll be bought off so you can marry your pompous ass of a prince and settle in your cloistered, ivory tower perhaps venturing out to have an occasional secret affair to satisfy your sexual needs. In fact, you seem so sure of what your father will say I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you haven’t already discussed it with him. The only laughable thing is he thinks we’ve already had sex.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying. How can you be so cruel?”
“I do know what I’m saying. We have only one thing in common, Lara, and it’s called lust. I have awakened the passion in you and you’re excited at the thought of doing it with me. You might be even more delighted to know that I’ve packed some condoms. Unfortunately, I don’t have one with me at the moment or you might have got your wish and I’d be inside you right now.”
“You’re disgusting.” She tried to move away but he placed his hands against the sofa on either side of her, effectively barring her escape.
“Yes, I probably do appear disgusting to you coming from your pristine, protocol-ridden little world. But that’s what you like about me, isn’t it?”
Her eyes filled with tears as Jack bent and kissed her with a savage intensity. How could he have misunderstood her? Where had her tender, caring and fun fisherman gone? The man who cared for her on their island? She hung her head, deeply shocked and ashamed as his harsh words sunk in and she realized how low she was in his estimation.
He picked up his jacket. “Don’t bother about showing me around, princess,” he said, with a faint smile. “I’m going to have a very cold shower, accept whatever recompense your father has to offer and then I’m going to bed. I’m tired. And don’t worry, I won’t tell him I haven’t had my money’s worth yet.”
She watched until he had closed the door of the apartment behind him before allowing the hot tears to pour down her cheeks.
~ * ~
Jack suffered a false sense of bravado as Rudolf led him along the vast corridors toward the king and queen’s private quarters as it neared six o’clock.
True to his word, he’d taken a cold shower and had he needed it. His lovemaking with Lara had been more than merely frustrating. Once again he had been near to taking her there, against the sofa, particularly when she had made those little moans of passion and he’d known she was so ready for him.
Generally speaking, I’ve been an absolute idiot ever since Lara climbed on board my boat, he thought, briefly glancing at the huge portraits covering the walls as they passed along the corridors.
An idiot bewitched by a beautiful princess. Has she used me? Is this just an exciting game to her? The romance of the island, my arrest, the intrigue, the lust? No. She has worried about me and begged me to take any handouts and run a mile from here. Sure, she wants me and there is no doubt I want her, but why didn’t I realize earlier that our lives are so different. That this whole thing is madness.
“Not much further now, Mr. Lucas,” Rudolf said, with a polite smile.
Jack continued with his own thoughts as he dutifully followed the aide. I don’t belong here and the sooner I get back to Port Margaret, the better. He frowned. Lara said the king would offer him money to leave her alone and keep things quiet. This would mean the king was unaware of Jack’s wealth and the royal family genuinely want
ed him out of Lara’s life. That hurt. It hurt like hell.
He pursed his lips as he thought of his harsh words to her earlier that afternoon. He had lashed out at her. He hadn’t meant to be cruel and he was as carried away by their lovemaking as she, if not more so. It was when she’d said she wanted him to be the man to take her virginity that a red haze of fury had descended over him.
Jealousy. I was blinded with jealousy at the thought of her and this God-damned prince. I’m even more of a fool than I thought. Lara is much better off with one of her own kind than a rough diamond like me.
“Here we are, sir.” Rudolf stood to one side so Jack could enter what appeared to be a large games room with a central billiard table. Johann greeted him and the butler served them both a drink. Uncomfortable, that’s what you are, King Johann, Jack decided as he took a swig of his whisky and soda.
“The queen will be joining us shortly, Jack. We have something of a delicate matter to discuss with you.”
I bet you have. He gave a wry smile as he followed Johann to the billiard table. It wasn’t until after the third game, which Jack won easily, that Queen Francesca joined the two men and the three sat in the lounge chairs in front of the roaring fire.
As he thought might happen, Francesca took the lead. “Mr. Lucas…Jack, thank you for meeting with us. The king and I have a very private matter to discuss.”
He leaned back in his chair nursing another whiskey. Jeez. He was tired. He wished they would get on with it so he could leave.
Johann coughed nervously and began. “We have observed that Lara is, well, she is taken with you and you with her.”
“Oh for goodness sake, Johann. It’s pointless beating around the bush. Jack, we are aware you are a very wealthy man. What the king and I propose is that you consider making a substantial financial investment into our country’s economy. In return we will offer you a title, royal privileges and our daughter, Princess Lara, as your bride.”
Seven
If it hadn’t been so serious, Jack would have burst out laughing. He wondered if he had heard Francesca correctly, or perhaps misunderstood what she said. The last thing he expected was to be asked for money and to be offered a princess in return.
Falling For Jack Page 9
