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Laszlo frowned. ‘I’m thirty, Prudence, not fourteen. I don’t have to ask permission to take people up to my room. Anyway, don’t look so worried.’ He leant forward and kissed her. ‘He was fine about it. He told me to let you sleep. Said that you’d been working far too hard. And Rosa was just worried that you’d starve. Which reminds me...’
Pausing, he stood up and walked across to the chest of drawers, picked up a plate covered with a napkin.
‘I made us a picnic.’ He grinned, his eyes gleaming. ‘Oh, and there are cherries. Unless you want to wait till I get back for dessert?’
She rolled her eyes at him and laughing softly, he sat down on the bed beside her.
While they ate he told her stories about the castle and explained some of Hungary’s complicated history. Then, when they’d finished, they fed each other cherries until there was nothing but stones and stalks left. Finally Prudence looked up and kissed him softly on the lips.
‘Thank you. That was delicious. Some quite surprising taste combinations. I like that.’
She was teasing him and he grinned.
‘I know you like to mix your flavours up.’
She shivered as his warm hand touched the bare skin of her leg.
‘But what if I could only give you bread and cheese? Would you be happy with that?’ he asked slowly.
‘Yes,’ she said softly. ‘If you were there I’d eat old shoe leather.’
His eyes were dark and unreadable and then, glancing away, he looked round the room speculatively. ‘Maybe you should just stay here in the tower? You could be my very own Lady of Shalott.’
She looked at him levelly, trying to ignore the steady, soft touch of his hands. Trying to stop herself from reading too much into his remark. She smiled. ‘Doesn’t she die alone and heartbroken?’
Laszlo frowned.
‘Yes, she does. I’d forgotten that part. I wasn’t really thinking about the poem. I just remember the painting by Waterhouse.’ He smiled at her mockingly. ‘Okay. What about Rapunzel? She saves her prince and they live happily ever after.’
Not trusting herself to speak, Prudence glanced away. Could she save Laszlo? Would he ever let her get close to him? She felt a flicker of hope. Maybe they could live happily ever after—maybe that was why fate had thrown them back together.
Her breathing slowed. Wrapped up in his bed sheets, it was easy to forget that none of this was real, for his words were so seductive. But her relationship with Laszlo would end soon, and there would be no happy-ever-after. And his words were designed to captivate and ensure that he got what he wanted. She sighed. What she had wanted too, at the beginning. Only now she wanted more.
And then, remembering how he’d held back from her just yesterday, she felt her stomach tighten. There was no point in hoping for any kind of reconciliation. What kind of marriage could they really have without trust and openness on both sides? Not that Laszlo had any interest in rekindling their relationship anyway. To him, this was and had only ever been a finite fling. Any seduction on his part was simply a means to an end. She needed to remember that when his poetic words started making her believe in fairy tales.
Composing herself, she smiled. ‘I’m not sure. I don’t remember Rapunzel throwing suitcases at her prince,’ she said teasingly.
He gave her a crooked smile. ‘That’s because her pointy hat got in the way.’
She giggled as he reached over and pulled her closer.
‘Not that you’ve thrown anything at me for days. Except the odd insult!’ His eyes moved across her face slowly. ‘I meant what I said. About you staying. I mean, why does all of this have to end?’
His arm tightened around her waist.
‘I admit when you arrived it was difficult. We had a lot of things to sort out. But that’s done now.’
His face was tense with concentration; she knew he was choosing his words carefully.
‘We could just carry on doing what we’re doing, couldn’t we? We both want it. And I want you more than I’ve wanted any other woman.’
She felt a twitch of longing between her thighs, but it was tempered with sadness. It was flattering to be so desired, only she wanted so much more. But the thought of leaving him was so dreadful to contemplate that there was really no point pretending that she would refuse a relationship on whatever terms he offered.
‘Just you and me? Just the two of us?’ she said lightly.
He nodded, but his expression was suddenly serious. ‘Just the two of us,’ he echoed. ‘That could work.’
Silence fell and then abruptly, Laszlo stood up.
