Page 37 of Awakened On Her Royal Wedding Night
Virgin, he recalled, and dragged himself into full awareness. He came up on an elbow. He didn’t care if she was bleeding on the sheet, but she would feel self-conscious about it.
“Because Vinicio is right outside that door,” she whispered with horror, looking toward it. “I didn’t even lock it.”
“Vinicio would not be my personal secretary if he didn’t have the sense to clear the area for a five-kilometer radius when my future wife visits my bedroom wearing nothing more than moisturizer.” He fell onto his back again, letting his eyes drift shut, returning to the zen of post-orgasmic high.
“And a robe,” she corrected lightly and slithered closer. Her hand came to rest on his chest. “This wasn’t why I came in here, you know.”
“No? I will maintain an open-door policy in future anyway, hoping for exactly this sort of surprise.” He picked up her hand, idly kissing each of her fingertips.
Damn, that had been good. Better than he had imagined it would be, but he didn’t let himself devolve into recollections of her taste or her tongue dancing against his sex or the way her powerful orgasm had seemed to prolong his own. He was already too obsessed with her, thinking about sex when he ought to be—
Hell, he was the keynote speaker at tonight’s dinner.
He didn’t bother glancing at the clock. Vinicio would have sent a message that he was delayed.
“I wanted to ask you why the wedding is happening so quickly. I thought I would have more time to get used to the idea.”
“My father doesn’t have much time left. He wants to know the throne is secure.”
She picked up her head. “Is that why you did this? Had sex with me?” she asked with a note of suspicion in her voice.
“I didn’t drag you in here, Claudine. I told you to leave, remember?”
She held his hard stare, searching for ulterior motives.
A sensation struck inside his chest, one as sharp as the blade that had scored his face. Ithurtthat she didn’t trust him. And it was all the more intolerable because it was so unexpected. Since when could she reach so far inside him? Was it the consequence of being insideher?
“If you don’t trust me, why did you let this happen?” he asked with quiet chill.
“I couldn’t help it,” she admitted in a small voice. “I needed to know how it would be. How you would feel. How we would make each other feel.”
The piercing icicle in his chest melted away.
His hand found its way to her jaw. He cradled her soft cheek, memorizing the way she still wore a heavy-lidded look of sensuality. Her hair was tumbled and her mouth pouted in a way that made him want to—
Thiswas the danger she posed to him!
“We need to dress. We’re late for our engagement.”
Her brow flinched and her gaze was bruised as she drew her chin out of his palm.
“Such is the life of a royal, my dear. Duty always calls.”
He rolled up onto his elbow to press a kiss on her lips, one that he meant to be brisk, but settled and softened into a tender, lingering thing that he hadn’t known he was capable of delivering. It hurt, too, deep in his chest, in a way that wasn’t as painful. More of a pull, like stretching a stiff muscle.
When he drew back, he was able to breathe easier and words slipped from his lips that he had no idea he was going to say.
“When we return later, I’ll be all yours.”
CHAPTER NINE
CLAUDINEHADTOLDher stylist she was unafraid of heights, so her shoes were five-inch silver heels with a bow on the toes. She wore her hair gathered in a sleek topknot and encouraged her stylist to add some drama to her makeup, ensuring her look was well-defined and sophisticated.
When she asked Ippolita for her pink-and-white necklace, Ippolita said something about the Prince having it. Claudine’s Italian was progressing at a rapid pace, but she still only caught every third or fourth word.
A bizarre shyness overcame her. She had developed a near unbreakable poise for almost any circumstance when sexuality was abruptly thrust at her—ha ha. But none of those situations had prepared her for a situation where she had actually engaged in sex.
Or for the sense that she now shared something with someone that was bigger than a secret. It was an experience. A profound one.
