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‘What are you doing?’ Her gold eyes were huge.
Uninhibited—and frankly exhilarated—he’d undone his shirt buttons before he’d even thought about it. Now he laughed at the look on her face. ‘Relax. It’s just skin. And it’s a pool.’
‘You can’t swim naked,’ she said, scandalised.
‘I told you, the pool is completely private. No one can see us—it’s designed so only our private apartments overlook it. Mine, yours, Fi’s. And Fi isn’t here.’
‘You still can’t swim naked,’ she choked.
‘Relax, Hester.’ He laughed, amused by her blushing outrage.
‘You just do everything you want, don’t you?’
‘Not all the time. Not everything.’
She had no idea how well behaved he was being right now. Another bolt of attraction seared through him. He kept his black knit boxers on but swiftly dived into the pool to hide the very direct effect she was having on him.
‘How’d the fitting go?’ he asked once he swam to the surface again. The thought of her in a fancy wedding dress intrigued him. The dresses on the plane had been stunning, but some white lacy bridal thing? He suspected she’d slay it.
‘It was fine.’
Of course she’d say that—it was her fall-back phrase to conceal every real thought and emotion. He gazed into her eyes, wishing he could read her mind. Only the softest signs gave her away—her pupils had swollen so there was only a slight ring of colour visible; her cheeks had reddened slightly; her breath sounded a little fast and shallow. But he wanted to provoke a real reaction from her—powerful, visceral, uncontrollable.
‘Alek?’ she asked.
Despite the uncertainty in her tone, primal satisfaction scoured his insides, tightening every muscle with anticipation. He really did like his name on her lips. That small success would be the first of many. And he understood the reason for her uncertainty and slight breathlessness. She had a similar effect on him.
He swam closer, hiding his straining body beneath the cool water. Her eyelashes were so amazing—droplets glistened on the ends of a few, enhancing their lushness even more and framing her jewel-like irises to mesmerising perfection. She was every inch a luscious lioness.
‘What are you doing?’ she muttered as he floated closer still.
‘Tell me how the fitting went,’ he said softly. ‘Tell me something more than a mere platitude.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I want to know how you’re feeling.’
That wary look entered her eyes, but at the same time the water’s warmth rose a notch. The tension between them was now half exposed and she couldn’t tear her gaze from him any more than he could peel his from her.
‘Why?’ Her lips parted in a tempting pout—ruby red berries promising delectable, juicy softness.
‘Because we’re going to be a team, Hester,’ he muttered, struggling to focus and to keep his hands off her. ‘I’d like to know how you’re feeling, how you’re coping with everything. We should be able to communicate openly with each other.’ He cocked his head. ‘I get that you’re quite self-contained, but this doesn’t need to be difficult.’
Except it felt complicated. Something drew him closer even when he shouldn’t. This should be straightforward. Where had this vast curiosity come from? Or this gnawing desire that now rippled through every cell in his body? It hadn’t been there yesterday when he’d proposed. But now? Now he wanted to know her—and not just in that biblical sense. He wanted to understand what she was thinking and why. Drawing her out was a challenge. It wasn’t unlike detangling Fi’s glass Christmas tree lights for her when he was younger—careful focus, gentle hands and infinite patience were required.
But Alek wasn’t feeling brilliantly patient this second. His heart was thudding too fast. He couldn’t resist reaching out to feel for himself how soft she was, placing his hands on her slender waist and pulling her closer to where he stood.
Hester braced her hands on his broad forearms, feeling the strength of his muscles beneath her palms. Her pulse quickened and, despite the cool water, her temperature soared.
‘Have you decided to seduce me?’ Her voice was the barest thread of a whisper.
He gazed at her intently but said nothing.
Old fears slithered in, feeding doubt and fattening the insecurity that he could never possibly mean it. This was just a game for him. He was so used to winning, wasn’t he?
‘What are you going to do once you’ve succeeded?’ She couldn’t hold back the note of bitterness. ‘Discard me like disposable cutlery?’
He didn’t flinch at her lame dig. His gaze was unwavering and she was drowning in the depths of darkness in his eyes. ‘Are you saying I’m going to succeed?’
‘A man with your experience is always going to succeed against someone like me.’
He gazed at her relentlessly and something dangerous flickered from him to her. ‘You’re really not experienced?’
‘Of course not,’ she snapped as the unfamiliar tension in her body pushed her towards rejection—it was that or something so reckless. So impossible. She’d all but told him back in Boston. ‘In your impossible quest for an appropriate bride you’ve found a virgin fit for a king.’ The bitter irony rose within her.
His hands tightened on her waist. ‘You’re a virgin?’
What else did ‘not experienced’ mean?
‘Don’t act like you didn’t guess already,’ she angrily snapped.
‘How? And why would I?’ He shook her gently. ‘You said you’d had a quiet life, but this is...’
‘Irrelevant,’ she slammed back at him. ‘We have an agreement. You’re paying me to do a job. Physical intimacy, other than those two kisses, is off the table.’
But she was finding it impossible to breathe, impossible to tear her gaze from his. And it was impossible to do this ‘job’ when he kept stripping off and smiling at her all the time.
‘Is it, Hester?’ he breathed.
Why did he have to be so beautiful? Why did her body have to choose this moment to spark to life and decide it wanted touch? The sort of touch she’d never craved before. Not like this—not with a bone-deep driving need that was almost impossible to restrain.
‘Please let me go.’ And the worst thing happened—because it wasn’t the assertive command she wanted. It was a breathless plea, totally undermined by the thread of desire that was so obvious to her that she knew it was evident to him as well.
But he didn’t release her.
‘Just so you know, sweetheart, it will not be my “experience” that sees me succeed with you,’ he said firmly and then swept her up to sit her on the side of the pool. ‘It’s not me at all.’
He pushed back, floating away from her, leaving her with a parting shot so powerful she was glad she wasn’t still standing.
‘It’ll happen only when you decide that I’m the one you want.’ He levered up out of the pool on the opposite side and she watched him stride away in all his sopping, masculine beauty. ‘You’re the one with the power. You’re the one who will need to say yes.’
CHAPTER FIVE
HESTER GRIPPED HER new clutch purse tightly. Her dress was suitable, she could walk in her mid-heeled nude shoes, and she’d practised not blinking so she could cope with banks of cameras...it was going to be fine. It was one sequence of appearances on one day—TV interview, public outing and back to the palace. She could manage that. She’d been practising often enough. The last few days had whizzed by in a flurry of meetings and planning. Alek had been with her much of the time but he was constantly interrupted and often completely called away. But she’d hidden in the palace, preparing for the performance of a lifetime, practising the walk down the long aisle of the chapel, climbing into the carriage, then swimming in the pool each afternoon. But he’d not joined her there again.
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