“Well, I certainly hope you don’t feel you need to entertain me.” His expression was politically masked, but the tone in his words showed how upset he was.
“Not…” Oh, what am I doing? I’m so out of my depth with this man. “I don’t feel I need to entertain you. No. But I don’t have time for…the things you bring.”
He raised his eyebrows that she countered with her own raised brows. She also didn’t have time for his judgements.
“Not even for a subsidized loan for the hospital rebuilding?”
“What?” She looked at him with a guarded expression. Surely he wasn’t joking. The hospital was too big and too important to just throw out such a statement merely to secure a dinner date.
“I’m sure you’d be interested in what King Angus Braxton-Lenox, on behalf of his wife—your sister—has to offer you.”
“Let’s go to my office. If you’re serious about the hospital, I can make some time. At least a few minutes to hear what you’re proposing.”
Her bodyguard led the way, with Angelica following her, and Ludwig at the tail. As they crossed over from the public area into the private section with offices, Ludwig had to pass through additional security measures which he felt were redundant since he’d already been cleared by parliamentary security, and he was in the company of the princess and her personal guard.
Ludwig could tell she needed her distance. She was still in work mode, which he understood well. There was a decompression period needed after a hard, stressful day at work.
Everything inside him told him to take her in his arms, to crush her to him, to never let her go. He wanted to take her right there, to show her exactly how he felt about her.
As they rounded the last corner that lead to the area outside her office, Angelica stopped suddenly. “How did you get back in the building? Did you sneak in?”
“I never left.” Sitting on the plush sofa, Abelardo smiled at her, amused with himself.
“How did you not leave?”
“By not leaving.”
After that stupid answer his smile just grew. But Angelica was not at all amused. She’d given specific orders about removing him and banishing him. And here he still was.
“I told—” No. She would not reveal the failure of the security personnel to remove him. Flustered, she looked at Celipa for help.
But to Angelica’s surprise, Celipa said, “Would you like us to give you some time alone with your fiancé?”
Abelardo smiled appreciatively and said, “That’s a great idea.”
“No! And he is my ex-fiancé.”
For one unsettling moment, it seemed to Ludwig that someone had just kicked his gut. His heart began to pound, and his skin broke out in goosebumps. He told himself that his lunch must not have agreed with him.
Because it was utterly unthinkable that the he would be unsettled by the discovery that this man was Abelardo, Angelica’s ex-fiancé. Worse—if there could be a worse species of exes-fiancés—that he would be handsome, rich, and still around and, talking to her.
“Abelardo Gutiérrez, pleased to make your acquaintance.” He stretched out his hand. “If you wouldn’t mind giving Her Royal Highness and I just a few moments to finish our conversation from earlier today…”
Ludwig stretched out his hand and shook Abelardo’s, not able to produce a syllable for the life of him. He considered himself a sane, calm man. He didn’t fly off the handle. And when he did, all bets were off, but it took a lot of pushing to get him off the ground. But right at the moment he was seriously considering throwing Abelardo out of the widow.
“I’m sorry, mister Gutiérrez,” Angelica interrupted. She was not petty or snobbish, but it gave her a vengeful satisfaction to show Abelardo he was an undergraduate compared to Ludwig. “His Highness, the Grand-Duque von Kröenenberg and I were just leaving to discuss an important matter over dinner. If you have more to say, please go to the royal family’s website and use the contact form.” She gave Celipa a pointed look as she pivoted and addressed Ludwig, “Shall we?”
She strode past him quickly, forcing Ludwig and Celipa to move quickly to catch up.
When Celipa was beside her, Angelica leaned closer to her and whispered, “I want him removed. Now. Please relay the message as a royal command. My previous order was apparently ignored.”
Ludwig was still coming out of a mental daze, and seeing Angelica whispering to her bodyguard right after running into her ex-fiancé, with whom she’d spoken earlier, did not bode well.
He had just discovered inside of him a dread; a sinking feeling of dis-ease; a sudden malaise. There was only one cure for what ailed his body and soul.
And that would be Angelica.
After the server placed their beers on the table and walked away, Americo lit a cigarette and exhaled smoke toward Abelardo.
Waving the smoke away, he glared at Americo. “Why do you always do that? You know I don’t like smoke.”
“That’s why I do it,” Americo replied, laughing, and then did it again.
“You know, I think I deserve some respect. You don’t know who you’re messing with. I’m not just some chump in this organization.”
Americo tapped his cigarette on the edge of the ashtray. “So far, you’ve accomplished nothing. How have you earned this respect you feel deserving of?”
Abelardo hated these meetings with Americo. He didn’t see why he couldn’t give his progress reports to Aguilar in person. It was demeaning. And it put Americo in somewhat of a superior position to him.
“I have a project I’ll be completing soon that will aid tremendously in my ability to seduce the princess. You can let the boss know that we will soon know everything that goes on in the princess’s quarters. Full video and audio surveillance.” Abelardo waved away the smoke that continually drifted to his side of the table.
“I’m sure Aguilar will like that, but you’re avoiding something. I need to report back how your meeting with Angelica went. Were you successful in speaking with her?”
“Yes, of course. That was easy.”
“Is the romance coming back to life? Will you be going on a date? We need to see progress, Lardo.”
Abelardo clenched his teeth. “I’ve told you to stop calling me that. You can tell Aguilar the meeting went just fine. Everything is on track.” He slipped off the stool and put his hands on the knife-scarred wooden table. “And there’s one more thing you can tell Aguilar. I’ll give my next report directly, or not at all. I’m out of patience with your annoying and disrespectful behavior. Be sure to include that with your report!”
Americo shook his head in contempt as he watched Abelardo walk quickly toward the exit, wincing when the sunlight briefly flashed into the room as Abelardo opened the door to leave.
26
On their way to one of Angelica’s favorite restaurants, Ludwig sat beside her in the back seat of her limousine, staring out the window at a forgotten land, one that he would imagine only to be found in a romance novel or in a fairy tale.
Angelica pointed out ruins of crusader-like castles to well-preserved Romanesque churches as they winded through the narrow roads of the mountains.
Their talk was stilted, as if they were circling each other, holding back what they wanted to say, and saying what had no importance.
“Our kingdom is a cauldron of cultural legacy left behind by Romans, Moors, Jews, and Christians.” She didn’t know what else to say to him, so she kept talking about Aragon. “We are struggling to maintain the monuments since we are at a very tight budget at the moment.”
“You should incentivize tourism. I couldn’t have imagined Aragon was this beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She fingered the black shahtoosh shawl she always kept in her limousine since Aragon’s climate changed from cool to extremely cold depending on the height of the city being visited.
“It’s not every country that can claim such diversity.” He glanced at her, giving her a brief smile before turning back and motio
ning with his hand as the car narrowed a curve and the view opened for them. “From snow-capped mountains ready to be skied, to lush valleys blanketed in flowers where you can have a picnic and bathe in a river beach.”
“We have the prettiest views in all of the Pyrenees and Iberian Peninsula.” Which was true. But she didn’t want to discuss that. Now that she was free of her reports and her work, she wanted to talk about something else. She also thought about how it would feel to have his arms around her, to feel that warmth and comfort that was so hard to resist now that she’d experienced it. But she did resist.
She needed to know why he was there.
“Where are you taking me?” he asked, turning to her briefly. He hoped they weren’t going somewhere crowded. He’d love to have some alone time with her. He needed to win her over. He was determined that he would have her back. And she would choose to stay with him.
Where indeed? “I’m returning the favor and showing you a bit of Aragon. Then we’ll eat in a very small place I’ve gone to since I was a child.”
“Good.” His smile widened, and he returned his attention out the window.
The medieval town of Caja, like many in Aragon, was built in the side of the mountain itself, almost perpendicular to the rock.
Angelica’s limousine parked in a narrow alley. She led the way, her heels clipping the sidewalk with a confident stride toward a 15th-century farmhouse of stone walls and wooden windows and doors.
“Angelica,” a middle-age woman cried, her arms wide. She was short, wrinkled, and thin, but she looked sturdy. She hugged the princess close and pulled away to look at her. “You don’t eat. This is no good. We feed you. Come.”
Angelica laughed. “I eat enough, thank you.”
“Well, I certainly hope so. Fancy palace and kitchen chef, huh?” She bit her bottom lip, her dark brows raised as she looked at Ludwig. “And who is this fancy boy?”
Ludwig laughed and offered his hand. “Ludwig von Kröenenberg, at your service.”
“Zoya Navarro.” The woman nodded approvingly, shaking his hand. “I have your table ready, Angelica.”
Angelica gave Zoya a smile and led the way through the ultra-contemporary dining room in white, black, and golden décor where only three other tables were being served, and out to the back garden.
Under a canopy made of trees, with the mighty Cinca River gurgling down below in the ravine, he would have privacy to talk to her, convince her, even seduce her if need be. “Why is it almost empty? Are we too early for dinner?”
“A bit.” Angelica took her seat and waited until Ludwig sat to continue, “And I called ahead. They probably canceled the other reservations.”
Her tone seemed on edge, and her words were clipped as if she was waiting for a shoe to fall. Or maybe an ax. And she kept looking over her shoulder to the dining room behind her to see if the other patrons had recognized her, only calming down when Zoya discretely pulled the striped curtain close. It worked as a blind, as atmospheric light played on the fabric, foreboding the outside garden and giving them a modest privacy, but privacy anyway.
They made small talk when Zoya and her husband arrived bringing migas aragonesas and promising a tasty dinner with the traditional cooking of Upper Aragon accompanied by the best Garnacha wine they had ever tasted produced by their own vineyard.
As soon as the couple left, Angelica’s expression turned serious. “So, tell me about this funding offer.”
He wanted her. He wanted the woman who sat before him now.
He wished this were clean and uncomplicated. But it was messy and complex. And warm, like the intermingling of their breath. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep himself from leaning over and covering her hand with his. “I’ll be happy to. But I’d like to discuss our relationship first.”
“We have none.”
That was a bit of a blow. His smile was a thing formed of equal parts sadness and happiness. So strange, was his Angelica. She made his heart hurt in ways that he’d have thought were impossible.
“Because you don’t want one?”
She kept her gaze on the table. “I know what kind of man you are, Ludwig. I am under no misgivings there. I know what you bring to the table, and what you don’t. I know you have a business in your own country. I cannot pull you here. My life would trump yours. You’d feel like you were competing with me. At some point, you would feel put upon for having chosen to stay.”
He didn’t believe that for one moment. He needed to get her to relent, to bend, to give him a chance. “What if I said I wanted to give it a try?”
“I would tell you that you were crazy.” Finally, she met his gaze, and there was a sadness there.
One he didn’t expect. “I am crazy.” He reached his hand out, palm up, inviting her to take his hand.
She didn’t even hesitate.
He curled his fingers into hers and held on tightly. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”
Those words were like icing on a cake, but she couldn’t fall for it. “That’s lovely.”
“You are like a drug for me and I cannot get you out of my system.”
“And when you do?” She looked at him, wanting to see what he felt. “When you’ve had all you want? When you’ve got me as tied to you as you want me to think I’ve bound you to me? What then? Will you leave me?”
He didn’t say anything for a long moment. The crickets about them seemed to chirp an entire symphony, accompanied only by the distant sound of frogs. If only the world could shrink to those things—heat and want—and expel the ragged impasse between them. “I will not leave you, Kätzchen.”
She shivered at the pet name. It made her feel needed and warm, but she couldn’t believe him. “I was told that once before.”
“I am nothing like him.”
She looked out, and saw all those pulses of warm yellow.
He’d put a light inside her, she thought. Pulses of light against the dark she’d carried. “How much you appealed to me caught me off guard. I wanted—want—to be with you. You’re the opposite of Abelardo. And I asked myself if that was why I found you so appealing. You’re so different from him. Not flashy or showy, just —”
“Dull?”
She glanced over quickly, relieved when she saw him smile. “No, not dull. Real. I needed real more than I can say, and there you were. I have feelings, and they scare me.”
“I don’t mind that. You take the time you need to work that out. But don’t make excuses not to see me—be straight about it.”
“I didn’t know how. I hadn’t figured out how because I didn’t want to stop seeing you. I felt I should, for a while, but I didn’t want to.”
“Has it been a while yet?”
“It feels like it’s been a lot longer than a while.”
That was all he wanted to hear, but he heard more in her sigh. “But?”
“But you are not a man to be tied down, either.” A thrill coursed through her, but that was only to be expected. It was the primitive reaction of a female when an attractive male displayed the usual bad-natured signs of proprietorship. She was overly aware that her feelings about him were also decidedly primitive. Yet, she had to get him to realize the seriousness of their situation. “I will not entertain the idea.”
“I will not let you go.”
On the other hand, she was not completely out of her mind and she didn’t want to be caught in the midst of a scandal—another scandal. Especially when Aragon was going through this turmoil. She took her hand back and shrugged. “Then we are at an impasse.”
He put his hand in his lap and studied her. “Give me a chance.”
I wish I could. I’m back in the real world now and this is where I need to stay. But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a few hours of pleasure. “Ludwig…why don’t we let this go and enjoy our dinner?”
He took in a deep breath and looked away. “I see.”
She hoped he did. And if she was really, really lucky, it would be
a very, very good night. “Tell me. Do you have news on Angus and Siobhan?”
27
Rip off her clothes and fuck her until she knows she’s still mine. He pushed back his thoughts, knew he couldn’t allow his desire to rule his actions. It has to be her choice.
Angelica stared into his eyes when he met her gaze. She did what she really wanted to do most.
She leaned forward, gripped Ludwig’s face, and watched surprise cross his features a second before her mouth brushed his. She tasted the soft texture of his full lips, heard the sound he made deep inside his throat, and then he took control of the kiss.
His lips brushing hers in a brief prelude. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and he let out a gasp of air against her lips—a single, desirous exhalation—before he took her mouth in a heated storm of a kiss.
There was no lightning in the air, no thunder on the horizon. But there should have been.
Even inside the car, the atmosphere seemed charged, as if some great bolt of electricity was about to arc up from the ground, starting right between them.
The entire valley—dark and shrouded in night—seemed to fold itself into their kiss. His hands slid down her back, pulling her close; her lips were soft and yet so demanding on his.
He wanted her, every inch of her.
She wanted Ludwig to take her as he’d taken her so many times before. At some point, she was going to need to figure out what she was doing with him. Not tonight.
“If you don’t mind sneaking into the Harem, we can spend the night together.”
“Sneaking?”
“During the Christian era, some king or other had thought it helpful to have tunnels dug from the riad on the harem for an easy escape if the palace was invaded.”
Ludwig didn’t believe what he was hearing—and considering—Angelica proposing he sneak in through tunnels into her quarters, make love to her, and then sneak out. As if he was a mistake, something shameful she must keep secret.