Forbidden Seduction (The Diamond Club Book 12)

by Elizabeth Lennox

Aviera leaned back in her chair and wondered what it would be like to kiss Lugar without the threat of being discovered lingering in her mind. What would that even mean? She was a royal princess of Cordaire. Never in her life had she felt free enough to explore her sexuality. In fact, Avi had never even been tempted by a man before now.

  But Lugar tempted her. There was something about him, a power and control that sent her mind spinning. She wanted to feel his strong hands on her skin, to let her own fingers explore his powerful muscles. She wanted to feel his body move against hers and…!

  Avi blushed, and quickly looked around to make sure that no one was watching. Such silly fantasies anyway. Lugar was the ruler of her country’s biggest enemy. She didn’t even understand the basis for the animosity between their two countries, but she knew that it existed. So any sort of future between herself and Lugar was impossible.

  Besides, he probably didn’t think of her as a viable candidate for a long term relationship anyway. She almost laughed at the idea of marriage. Marriage? To a man she barely knew? That was crazy! So why was the idea so enticing? Dangerously enticing.

  Why did that term keep popping into her mind? She shivered, remembering the way he’d held her this morning. At times, he was incredibly gentle, holding her as if she were a treasure that he wanted to care for. And at other moments, his hands had been firm, commanding. Hard! Both moments were…interesting, she thought. Perhaps exciting was a better description. But even that didn’t fully encompass what she felt when Lugar touched her.

  What was more interesting, Avi thought, tapping her pen thoughtfully against the notebook in her lap, was that she enjoyed talking with him. Very odd. For a man who was supposed to be her sworn enemy, their views on politics and life in general were shockingly similar.

  So, if their views were so similar, why were their two countries so opposed to any sort of relationship? It had been decades since any sort of official trade had occurred between their countries. She knew that there was unofficial trade happening along the borders. People did what they needed to survive and, if one person found a market for their products in the enemy territory, then they’d find a way to get those products to the marketplace. It was just basic economics and survival skills.

  Avi wondered why her brother hadn’t tried to forge a more positive relationship with Shadir. It made good sense.

  Or was she simplifying the problems because she wanted to get to know the country’s ruler? She was being unrealistic and, in reality, Lugar had only kissed her. He hadn’t indicated in any way that their countries should banish the animosity and forge a different path for the future. It was entirely possible that Lugar and his government were perfectly content with the way things were right now and she was spinning crazy fantasies simply because she found the man…fascinating. Okay, so perhaps there was something more than fascination, but what that was, Avi wasn’t quite sure. Honestly, she’d never felt this way towards a man. Never! Just thinking about him made her stomach fill with butterflies. In her mind, she could picture him in the moonlight, holding her body against his, then turning her so that she could look up into his eyes. And his voice! Good grief, she’d woven naughty dreams around his voice saying things to her. Soft, delicious things that made her blush as her mind expanded on those ideas.

  There was a small argument in the meeting and Avi’s eyes refocused as she pulled her mind from the gutter. Looking around, she prayed that no one had noticed that she’d gone off into her own world, wandering down a dangerous and salacious path.

  And an unrealistic one, she reminded herself. Just because Avi wanted a relationship with Lugar, that didn’t mean that it was going to happen. In fact, it was not going to happen. There was too much hatred that had lasted for too many years.

  Her dreams would have to remain just that – dreams.

  Chapter 6

  Avi stepped out of her meeting and glanced down at her schedule. “You have a meeting with the oil trade union next, Your Highness,” her assistant reminded her, leading her down yet another hallway.

  Avi nodded, going along with the plan. Her guards were…somewhere. Because of the security already inside the United Nations building, they’d pulled back during the day. Although, because of the number of heads of state here in New York for this annual meeting, there was extra security whenever she left the building. It was the same for everyone in attendance. There were too many people protesting one thing or another outside for her guards to relax during this conference.

  This time, when she stepped out of the meeting, her gaze caught a tall, powerfully built man leaving a different meeting. As soon as their gazes clashed, she felt that spark of electricity shoot down her spine. For a moment, it seemed as if Lugar was trying to tell her something, but she wasn’t sure what. Then he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, looked down at it and, while his assistant muttered in his ear, he looked pointedly at her.

  Avi’s own assistant was saying something as well but she didn’t hear what he said. Her focus was on trying to translate Lugar’s silent message.

  Once again, he glanced down at his cell phone, then at her. Did he want her to text him? But how could she? Where would she get his contact information? For another moment, she blinked at him, then he slipped his cell phone back into his pocket and moved away.

  “We are going to be late, Your Highness,” her assistant whispered to her.

  Avi sighed, coming back to the present as she looked around. “Right!” And she started moving. Slowly at first, but as she noticed the time, she realized that she was going to be late if she didn’t hurry. This meeting was with…Avi wasn’t sure, and she wasn’t sure she cared.

  She sat down in her designated chair and looked around, smiling politely to the other participants. In her previous meeting, the chairs and tables were in a circle. This time, the chairs were lined up in an auditorium-like seating arrangement.

  The first speaker stood up and Avi tried valiantly to listen. But when her cell phone buzzed, that spark of excitement danced over her skin. She smothered the smile that seemed to want to burst out of her and lifted the phone from her pocket.

  Glancing at the message as surreptitiously as possible, she couldn’t stop the smile as she read, “I didn’t mention this before breakfast, but you look lovely today. That color of blue looks beautiful on you.”

  Avi straightened in her chair, smoothing a hand down over the light blue suit she’d donned this morning. The matching blue silk blouse made her feel pretty and intelligent, but that was nothing compared to how she felt when she read Lugar’s compliment.

  With shaking fingers, she replied, “Thank you. I’d like to say that you look exceptionally handsome in your suit as well, but I honestly hadn’t noticed what you are wearing.” For several moments, she hesitated on sending the message. She knew that there was something more she should add. Something she wanted to add. But would that be too…revealing? Deciding that she was going to be brave, she continued typing. “Not to give you too much of an ego boost, but I was a bit more focused on your kiss and…well, your kiss.” And before she could delete anything, she pressed the send button.

  Pressing her cell phone against her stomach, she lifted her head, pretending to focus on the speaker. But in reality, she was waiting, tense and nervous, for his response.

  She didn’t have long to wait before his response came. “And other things?” he texted.

  Avi grinned, then realized that she was in a dark room listening to a speaker talk about important issues and needed to be, or at least pretending, to pay attention. Quickly, she wiped the smile from her features. Thankfully, everyone else seemed to be enraptured by the presentation on…potential diseases threatening grain production…so they didn’t notice her excitement.

  “Yes. Other things,” she replied.

  “As much as I’d like to know what other things you enjoyed this morning…”

  She waited, reading the words and waiting for his next message. Someone must have asked h
im a question because it took a few moments for him to finish his thought. “What’s your meeting about right now?”

  “Grain diseases,” she texted. “What’s yours?”

  “Pigs.”

  She almost laughed out loud.

  “Pork futures, actually, but basically, pigs.”

  Another moment of potentially embarrassing laughter hit her and she took a moment to steady herself. She took her phone and typed, “Who manages our schedules?”

  “Not me,” he texted. “And I’m going to have a pointed conversation with my assistant about this meeting.”

  “Me too,” she replied back.

  For the rest of the meeting, they texted interesting tidbits about their meetings back and forth. He would shoot her “scintillating” details about the future of pigs and pork production and she’d give him “stimulating” facts about grain diseases. It was all relevant to their economies, but Avi was aware that she was here more in a ceremonial capacity.

  Fortunately, his texts throughout the afternoon helped get her through the rest of her meetings.

  By the time she walked into her hotel suite after a long, tedious dinner, she was ready to just flop into bed and fall asleep. Flipping her shoes off, she padded barefoot into the bedroom, stripping off her clothes as she went. It felt wonderful to be out of the dress, stockings, heels, and heavy earrings she’d worn to dinner. It had only been a cocktail dress, but it still felt amazing to be free of the constraints.

  But as she washed her face and brushed her teeth, her gaze kept straying to her cell phone, wondering if Lugar might text her something more tonight. He’d stopped the messages when they’d gone to dinner. It was one thing to read messages during a meeting, it was another to read messages during a dinner conversation.

  Just as she was slipping between the sheets, ready to turn off the light, her cell phone buzzed. Lifting it up, she saw the message and smiled. “You finished for the night?” he texted.

  “Yes! Finally done.” She waited, wondering what he might text back. She’d be perfectly happy with just a “good night” message from him.

  Instead, her phone rang. It was him!

  “Hello?” she answered, feeling a bit naughty since she was wearing a silk negligee, leaning against the pillows.

  “How was your dinner meeting?” his deep voice asked.

  She smiled, snuggling deeper into the bed. “Boring. How was yours?”

  “Pointless,” he replied. She heard something ping, like metal against metal and knew that he was dropping cufflinks or something like that into a bowl on the hotel dresser.

  “What are you doing now?” he asked.

  Her smile faded and she looked out the window of her hotel room. The bright New York Skyline was still lit up with lights from the buildings, even though it was after midnight.

  “I’m just…” she wasn’t sure what to say.

  “You’re in bed, aren’t you?” he asked and, impossibly, his voice dropped even lower.

  “Yes,” she replied, and her smile turned sexy. “What are you doing?”

  “Picturing you in bed. What are you wearing?”

  Avi looked down at her champagne colored negligee. “A sweatshirt,” she lied.

  “Not true,” he laughed and the sound sent a thrill through her.

  “Huh. What do you think I’m wearing?”

  “I have no idea, but I’ll tell you what I wish you were wearing.”

  She giggled. “What would you prefer I wear?” she asked, feeling daring and bold.

  “Nothing at all,” he groaned. “We need to change the subject,” he sighed.

  Avi laughed again. “What would be a safer topic?”

  “Tell me more about those diseases to grain crops? That will definitely…deflate…the conversation.”

  An image of Lugar naked and…fully erect…popped into her mind and her breath caught in her throat. The image was so enticing, she couldn’t even think for a long moment.

  “Are you still there, Aviera?” his deep voice asked.

  “Yes!” she replied, worried that he might detect the breathlessness in her voice. “I’m here,” she replied and sat up straighter against the pillows.

  “Tell me about your day,” he urged. And for the next hour, they talked and laughed, offered advice and discussed tomorrow’s schedule. She’d already turned off the light and curled up with her phone against her ear while they talked, enjoying the sound of his voice. By one in the morning though, she couldn’t stifle the yawn and he heard it.

  “You’re tired. Go to sleep, beautiful.”

  “Good night, Lugar,” she whispered, wishing that she could continue talking to him.

  “Aviera?”

  She hadn’t hung up yet, wanting to maintain the connection with him for just another moment.

  “I’m here,” she replied, smiling shyly even though he couldn’t see her.

  “Meet me tomorrow morning. Same place we went this morning.”

  She hesitated for maybe a fraction of a second. Then she smiled and nodded. “I’ll be there,” she whispered, feeling better now that she had something to look forward to. “Good night, Lugar.”

  “Good night, Avi,” he replied, and she suddenly realized that he’d used her nickname for the first time. Somehow, that felt significant since only her family and Chloe ever called her Avi instead of Aviera.

  She pressed the end button, but the smile lingered on her lips as she snuggled down between the sheets. As her eyes closed, her last thought was that she couldn’t wait to see him tomorrow and kiss him good morning.

  Chapter 7

  Avi watched as the maid folded her clothes and packed up her suitcase. She wanted to yell at the world, ordering everyone to slow down. For the past two days, she’d met Lugar in the morning and he would kiss her until she melted against him, whimpering for more. But their busy schedules wouldn’t permit anything more. They texted each other during the day and, after they’d arrived back from their dinner meetings, he would call her and they’d talk until she couldn’t keep her eyes open.

  But now the annual meeting was over. Everyone was heading home and Avi didn’t want to lose her morning kisses with Lugar. And she definitely didn’t want to lose their nightly phone calls.

  With a disgusted hiss, Avi stomped out of the bedroom, leaving the maid to finish packing while she paced back and forth across the floor of her suite. “This isn’t fair!” she muttered angrily. “Everyone else gets to have relationships. Why am I forbidden from…?”

  “Are you okay, Your Highness?” her assistant asked.

  Avi stopped pacing, closing her eyes and praying for patience. Turning, she pasted a bright smile on her face. “I’m fine,” she replied with as much calmness as she could.

  Her assistant clearly didn’t believe her. He looked back at her skeptically for a long moment, then looked down at his tablet, which contained her schedule and messages.

  “Your plane is ready and standing by. The pilot recommended that we hurry because so many other private planes are taking off today. The air traffic controllers are working hard to get everyone safely in the air, but they have very short takeoff windows for each plane. If we miss our window, we will be pushed to the back of the schedule. ”

  Avi had suspected that this would happen, but it still didn’t make her feel any better.

  The maid came out of the bedroom at that moment. “You’re all packed, Your Highness,” she said with a small curtsy before making her way out of the room, Avi’s suitcases stacked onto a rolling cart trailing behind her. The efficient woman quickly made her way out of the suite, one of the guards following her to ensure that the luggage reached the waiting limousine without incident.

  Avi checked her cell phone, wishing that she could call Lugar. But she knew that he had an important meeting this morning, which was probably why she was in such a grumpy mood. She hadn’t been able to kiss him goodbye and, since this was probably the last time that they’d be in the same country for
a long time, probably ever, she doubted that she’d have a chance to speak with him again, much less kiss him and feel his strong arms around her.

  “Right,” she sighed and closed her eyes, fighting back tears. “Let’s go.” With that, she turned and walked out of the suite, grabbing her purse and leaving without a backward glance.

  With her head held high, she made her way through the lobby, trying not to embarrass herself by allowing the tears to slide over her lashes. That would be really bad! The press would have a field day with pictures of her crying!

  She was halfway across the lobby when she spotted him. Lugar’s eyes caught hers and he tilted his head.

  Avi understood the silent message, trying to appear calm and in control even while her heart was almost bursting with anticipation. “I’ll be right back,” she announced, leaving her assistant and security team standing there awkwardly as she slipped into the room where she’d met Lugar the past three mornings. As soon as she stepped through the door, he pulled her against him. He didn’t kiss her this time. Instead, he simply held her. Avi wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against his chest, letting her eyes drift closed. If she had her way, she’d stay like this for the rest of her life!

  Unfortunately, neither of them had the freedom for that.

  “We have to go,” she whispered, hating that it was true but knowing that their responsibilities had to be dealt with.

  “I know. Just another moment,” he growled and his arms tightened slightly. She felt him rest his cheek against the top of her head and smiled even as a stray tear escaped from her lashes.

  Finally, he pulled back, breathing deeply. When she looked up at him, she felt as if his eyes were memorizing her features. Avi lifted her fingers up, running the tip of one across his harsh jawline. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  She knew that he wasn’t going to kiss her, so instead, she brushed a brief kiss along his jawline. After that, she pulled out of his arms and walked away as quickly as she could.