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ARIELLEMADEANOTHERattempt to shuffle away from Eirik, but it was futile when the lower half of her body was tightly wrapped in a tube of silicone rubber—recycled of course.
‘Not so fast,’ he mocked her. He dropped to his knees and straddled her with his thighs on either side of her body. She caught her breath when she realised that the angry gleam in his eyes was mixed with something more dangerous. The air around them simmered with sexual tension, but she was determined to resist her treacherous body’s desire for him.
‘Leave me alone.’ She pushed against his chest, but he captured her wrists in his hands and held them above her head.
‘I thought the point of the game was for me to chase, and for you to capitulate,skatta.’
‘We are not playing a game.’ To her horror, the idea of capitulating to Eirik’s sensual demands made her breathing quicken. ‘I don’t know whatskattameans,’ she muttered, hoping to distract his attention from the swift rise and fall of her breasts.
He shrugged. ‘In English I suppose it means honey or sweetheart.’ His eyes were still on her breasts and Arielle was mortified when she felt her nipples swell, and she knew the hard points must be visible through her bikini top.
‘I am not your sweetheart. How could you put me in such a humiliating position? I don’t mean the one I’m in now,’ she snapped when his brows rose. She was pinned beneath him and totally at his mercy.
She bit her lip. ‘You should not have brought me here to Princess Catalina’s house. I feel awkward that I have invaded her privacy while she is grieving for her fiancé, your brother, Niels.’
Eirik lifted himself off Arielle and sat beside her on the pebbles. He raked his hand through his wet hair. ‘I did not want to abandon you at a hotel, and it was only for last night. I rushed through my meetings this morning so I could come to collect you and take you to your interview with the director of the marine institute.’
He sighed heavily. ‘Catalina was devastated when Niels was killed a week before their wedding, and she could not bear to return to San Sabinus. Instead, she came here to the holiday home they had bought as a place to escape to, away from the spotlight of royal life. In the past year she and I have grown close. Lina would have been my sister-in-law and she loved Niels as much as I did,’ he said gruffly.
Arielle had finally managed to peel her mermaid’s tail down her legs and slipped her feet out of the moulded foot compartment of the monofin. Beneath the costume she was wearing tiny bikini bottoms. She flushed when Eirik roved his bold gaze over her skimpily clad figure. The warmth of feminine arousal between her legs made her despise her body for its weakness for him.
‘Princess Catalina told me that you are going to marry an aristocratic woman, Ida Lundberg.’ She glared at Eirik. ‘You had no right to kiss me and ask me to sleep with you when you had already promised to make another woman your bride.’
He frowned. ‘You’re wrong—’
‘Don’t tell me I’m wrong.’ Arielle’s temper blazed. She had spent most of her life feeling voiceless, too afraid of her father to speak out against him. She hadn’t complained when Jack had treated her badly because she’d felt worthless and been grateful that he was her boyfriend.
She stood up and marched over to where she had left her clothes, trying not to wince as the pebbles dug into the soles of her feet. She thrust one leg into her jeans and hopped inelegantly while she stepped into the other leg. Her heart crashed into her ribs when she turned her head and discovered that Eirik had followed her up the beach. His close proximity and raw masculinity made her feel dizzy.
She yanked her jeans up her legs with such force that the denim scraped over her thighs. ‘You made a fool of me when you kissed me knowing that you have a fiancée.’
‘I am not engaged to Ida Lundberg,’ he bit out. ‘I haven’t promised her or any other woman that I will marry them.’
‘But Princess Catalina said that everyone expects you will formally announce your betrothal to Ida. And you told me that you had spent this morning planning a big event. I assumed you meant your wedding.’ Arielle searched Eirik’s face for any signs that he had lied. He held her gaze steadily, and she was the first to break eye contact.
He exhaled heavily. ‘I am under pressure to marry a woman from an aristocratic background who will be my Princess Consort when I become ruler of Fjernland. My mother has let it be known publicly that she believes Ida Lundberg is the ideal candidate for the role, but I have not formally discussed the matter with Ida.’
Yet.Arielle mentally filled in the space when Eirik hesitated. She had always known he was out of her league, she reminded herself. But she felt a little happier knowing that, when he’d kissed her, he hadn’t been cheating on a woman who had hopes of marrying him.
He stepped closer to her and took her sweater, which she was clutching tightly as if it were a security blanket, out of her fingers. ‘For now, I am a bachelor and free to kiss whoever I desire,’ he drawled.
Did he mean that he desired her? The sun was in her eyes, and she could not read his expression, but she hadn’t imagined the hunger that thickened his voice. A shiver of longing ran through her. She did not move and could barely breathe as he lowered his face towards hers.
‘Tell me you don’t feel the same way and I’ll end this madness now,’ he said rawly.
The sensible thing would be to walk away from him. But Arielle did not want to be sensible. She could not lie and so she said nothing. Her lips parted in an unconscious invitation and Eirik’s eyes narrowed to gleaming slits as he slanted his mouth over hers. He made her wait a fraction longer, and she trembled, every nerve ending on her body so acutely aware of him that ithurt.
She heard a low moan and realised as he closed the tiny gap between their mouths that the husky plea had come from her. But then her mind went blank as Eirik claimed her lips in a kiss that was thrillingly possessive. It was different from when he’d kissed her at the cottage. Then he had taken his time and teased her with light, almost playful caresses. But now there was nothing teasing in the way he ground his mouth down on hers and pushed his tongue between her lips.
Now there was heat and flame as her body caught light. The stubble on his jaw felt abrasive against her cheek when he kissed his way up to the sensitive place behind her ear before he nipped her earlobe with his teeth. She pressed herself closer to him and felt the play of hard muscles beneath her palms when she placed her hands on his chest. His skin felt like satin, overlaid with soft hairs that were springy beneath her fingertips.
Eirik tightened his arm around her waist and pushed his other hand between their bodies to cup her breast. He rubbed his thumb over her nipple and sensation shivered through her. The thin material of her bikini was a frustrating barrier. She wanted his hands on her naked skin and she must have spoken out loud because he laughed softly and brought his other hand up her back to release the clasp on her bikini top.
It fell away and he closed his fingers around her bare breast, playing with her nipple and making her gasp with pleasure. Reality faded, and Arielle was aware of nothing but this golden prince who seemed to understand her body better than she did herself. He seemed to know of the insistent ache between her thighs and clamped his hand on her bottom, hauling her against him so that her pelvis was flush to his and her bones turned to liquid when she felt the hard proof of his arousal.
It had been a mistake to kiss Arielle. Eirik knew it the moment his lips met hers, but the taste of her was more intoxicating than a fine wine and he wanted more. She was so damned responsive, pressing herself up against him and winding her arms around his neck as she opened her mouth beneath his and held nothing back.
Her soft breast filled his palm, and he liked the way she moaned when he rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. He liked it way too much. It was as if he had never done this before. He felt as excited as a teenager exploring a woman’s body for the first time. But Eirik had done a lot of exploring and he’d slept with more women than he could remember. This was different, this insane need to strip Arielle naked and possess her with fast, hard strokes.
