Royal Affair

  He pinned her body under his, her scent filled his nose, and he peered into those incredible eyes, her pouty lips, and his body roared to life.

  He wanted her more than any woman he’d ever touched. He wanted to be with her for as long as possible. Enjoy every inch of her and make her burn with the passion he felt. He would have gone days without food or water just to be inside her again. To possess something so wonderful and forbidden. Any torture, any punishment, any sacrifice would have been worth the cost of pleasuring them both until they couldn’t move. Then and only then, he’d release her from his arms. If she dare walk away…

  The memory of the time they shared would have to last him until he could devise a way to be with her forever.

  “I haven’t been interested in anyone particularly. Up to now.” He sat back and his powerful arm tightened round Angelica’s waist and he pulled her onto his lap. “Not like this…”

  It was like sitting in the throbbing heat of a furnace: Brick-hard and hot, his body pulsed with tension.

  He slid his hand down over her hip and clasped her thigh. “It just seems to me it’s better to be straight-out. You knocked me flat. I planned to be slow and a lot smoother about it, but hell, Angelica, why?”

  That’s straight-out and forthright, all right. And as unnerving as it is flattering. She tilted her head back. “You really don’t know me.”

  “I plan to.”

  This time she let out a laugh that was more stupefied. “Just like that.”

  “Unless you take a strong dislike to me, but I don’t think you will. I’m likable. I want to take you out—”

  “I’ve got to say, Ludwig, I’m a complicated, twisted-up mess of a thing right now.”

  “I fix things, Liebchen. It’s what I do best.”

  A woman knew that look in a man’s eyes, that tone in a man’s voice. Flustered—and behind the flustered, flattered—she managed a nervous laugh. “This would be a complete overhaul—what you’d call a gut job—but anyway, I will marry an Aragonese. And you have your life in Lektenstaten.”

  “Nein, you won’t.” His breathing was harsh. “And, nein, I don’t.”

  She didn’t have time to make sense of his words because his mouth, hard and hungry, fell upon hers, dragging over her lips as though to punish her. But what Ludwig tasted was victory.

  He felt it in the heat she couldn’t disguise, and in the pulsing tension of her frame, and he heard it clear as any declaration in her sigh when his tongue pushed impatiently for entry.

  He wanted her. Still. Maybe he didn’t want to, but he couldn’t help it, any more than she could help wanting him.

  And for this moment, she needn’t pretend otherwise.

  She squirmed up to wrap her arms round his neck and held tightly while he ravaged her mouth. And while she ravaged his.

  They might have been two furious armies and the kiss a life-or-death battle.

  They both wanted the same: conquest, possession.

  He gave no quarter. She wanted none.

  She couldn’t get enough of the hot sin of his mouth, the scorching pressure of his hand, dragging over her hip, brazenly claiming her breast. She claimed too, her hands raking over his massive shoulders and down, digging her fingers into the powerful sinews of his arms.

  Mine. His muscles bunched and flexed under her touch as she splayed her hands over his broad, hard chest.

  She would not share his stormy kisses with anyone else. She would not share his big, splendid body with anyone else.

  She squirmed closer.

  He tensed and, groaning deep in his throat, moved his hand down and clasped her bottom, pulling her closer still. Even through layers of fabric, his bold grasp sent sizzling ripples of sensation over her skin.

  She wanted his touch upon her naked flesh: big, bare hands moving over her, everywhere.

  Rough or gentle, she didn’t care. As long as he wanted her. As long as he kissed her and touched her like this, as though he were starving—as she was—as though he couldn’t get enough of her—as she couldn’t of him.

  He dragged his mouth from hers and, muttering what sounded like German curses, took his warm hand off her ass.

  Swallowing a cry of frustration, she brought her hands down from his shoulders, folded them upon her lap, and stared up at him. “Please.”

  Ludwig gazed at her in furious despair for a long moment before he said thickly, “Not in the car, with your driver and bodyguard knowing what we are doing here. You win. I’ll meet you in the Harem.”

  “I simply do not understand you, Angelica.” Maria punctuated her words with a long-suffering sigh.

  To which Angelica responded with one of her own and asked, “Precisely what don’t you understand now?”

  They had been at this since Angelica asked Maria to help her by bringing Ludwig through the underground tunnels. As soon as she had arrived in the palace and the limousine had turned around to take Ludwig to his hotel, she told Celipa her plans and her bodyguard immediately agreed to help distract the palace guard, as long as Angelica remained within the Harem. Still, Angelica needed someone else to bring Ludwig through the tunnels and the only other person who she could confide in was her sister. But the girl had suddenly taken an aversion to secret affairs that Angelica didn’t comprehend.

  “Ludwig is off the charts handsome and wealthy. His breeding is impeccable, his title unblemished. In addition, any man willing to do what you have asked is either a saint—”

  Angelica snorted in disdain. “Saint Ludwig? I hardly think so.” Saints probably have no knowledge of what he does.

  Maria cast her a pointed glance. “As I was saying, such a man is either a saint or a fool. And the grand-duke is no fool.”

  “No.” In point of fact, the man was far more clever than she’d anticipated. Lending money for the hospital rebuilding had been a genius idea and had gotten her attention.

  “Or,” Maria paused dramatically, “he’s indeed a wonderful man and you would be the fool to let him slip away.”

  “What about love?” Angelica shot the words like an arrow. “I know you wish for love as much as I do.”

  Maria swiveled back. “Of course, I do. But Ludwig is more than handsome and wealthy. I did a little research. He’s a good man and it would take little for any sane, rational woman to love him with her whole heart and soul.”

  “And I’m not sane and rational?”

  “Not when it comes to this,” Maria snapped.

  “Well I, for one, do not care to talk about weddings or my future. I just want a bit of fun, Hermanita.”

  Maria shook her head. “You are the most intelligent woman I know. I admire your strength, your courage, and your willingness to do exactly as the country needs. But here and now I must say I have never heard you say anything so…well, stupid.”

  “Stupid?” Angelica gasped.

  Maria squared her shoulders. “Stupid. You can be his fiancée, his future wife. Yet you want to keep him a secret, almost as if it was—”

  “You’ve told me a hundred times: life is not worth living without a certain amount of risk,” Angelica interrupted before Maria could finish her thoughts. She knew where her sister was heading and she didn’t want to hear it. “Were you wrong?”

  “No, but—”

  “Then how on earth can you stand there and deny helping me?”

  Whether it was the heretofore unnoticed strength in her older sister’s manner or the underlying truth of her comment, for once, words failed Maria and she just shrugged.

  “Then are you going to bring him to me?”

  Maria nodded crisply, turned, and strode from the room.

  Angelica sank down on the chaise and stared in stunned disbelief. Maria had never spoken to her quite like this before. Maria was always the one to speak her mind, and yes, to encourage a certain amount of risk.

  What is happening to me?

  Ludwig wasn’t thrilled about the idea of sneaking in to the palace, and he tried not to think a
bout what it might mean regarding Angelica’s feelings for him. He stood silently and patiently in front of an ancient house in downtown San José where he’d been instructed to wait and was glad when Maria finally arrived to escort him to Angelica.

  To anyone looking from the window the house looked normal, but behind the wall of the living room and kitchen there was a heavy door which lead to a dark, deep staircase. About a hundred steps below, the stair opened into a tunnel.

  Ludwig couldn’t have imagined the size and geniality of the tunnels below the very capital of Aragon.

  Occasionally, he’d been forced to slow down because the ceiling dipped down low, and with him being so tall, he had to stoop to get through. His footsteps echoed eerily about them, along with scurrying sounds that he suspected were rats.

  Now he and Maria were inching along a dark tunnel. “How much farther?”

  “Not much,” Maria replied.

  By the time Ludwig reached the top of the stairs, it felt like the narrow stone walls were closing in.

  Maria lifted her skirt in one hand and the lantern in the other as she rushed forward. The light grew until it began to take the shape of an arched entrance.

  As they approached, he spotted bars. A gate? The cement floor gave away to rock floor and the sounds of the night reached his ears.

  Maria motioned to the gates in front of them. “They’ll lead to the riad.”

  They surfaced onto a kind of huge inside courtyard garden, with a large and shallow fountain surrounded by palm trees, under an elaborate carved skylight that was open to the air.

  As he followed Maria, Ludwig noticed the huge Moroccan-inspired horseshoe arch, characterized by a large round arch atop a straighter, narrower doorway, which was apparently the main entrance of the harem, which was unguarded.

  “Where are the palace guards?” he asked Maria in a whisper, eyeing the wide space. The marble floor was covered with Oriental carpets. Large, comfortable looking white sofas and armchairs, where royal-blue and royal-purple silk pillows were scattered, faced an overbearingly large fireplace that seemed to be one sole marble block.

  “Her bodyguard is distracting them.” Maria stopped by a stair under an arch and winked at him. “Now, you’re on your own.”

  “I owe you one.” Ludwig planted a swift kiss on her cheek. “Thanks.”

  “I’ll add it to Angelica’s account. Celipa will be waiting for you here to let you out when you’re ready.” She motioned for him to go up and winked. “No need to rush on her account.”

  Ludwig rolled his eyes at her and went up the stairs in twos.

  28

  The view from the Harem’s balcony was magnificent, looking out over the intricate garden of the riad, to the abyss that led to the turquoise-green lake down below and beyond that to the other mountains that formed the Pyrenees range.

  Angelica looked up to the stars glittering in the night sky but its beauty didn’t soothe the turmoil within her. She never thought she would receive a man who was not her husband in her rooms. She never thought she would dare think of putting into practice what she had read in those forbidden books she had smuggled into her library a couple of years ago. Yet, here I am.

  A sound below caught her attention and looking down she saw Ludwig and Maria emerging from the tunnel exit and making their way through the riad.

  Nervous, she re-entered her chambers, looking around trying to see her place through Ludwig’s eyes. Too frilly? Too girlish?

  With the soft breeze that blew through the partially open windows the almost transparent white curtains fluttered away from the posts of the bed, setting a dramatic and romantic appearance in Angelica’s bedroom.

  With simple touches, she had managed to transform the standard guest bedroom into a celebration of feminine decorating, with deep cushions in stunning colors over a plush goose-feather filled white coverlet; a contrast that was common in Moroccan decoration.

  It won’t do to wait for him in my bedroom as if I were a… She stopped herself before she could complete the ridiculous thought—surely one more of the antiquated ideas inculcated into her by her mother and her father—but anyway, she crossed to the anteroom, looking herself over in the hand-carved Moorish mirror as she did it.

  She had changed into a wine-red silk negligée—fine as gossamer, leaving nothing to the imagination—and matching mules.

  The negligée was a piece her mother had insisted she acquire for her trousseau. She was sure Anchela hadn’t planned for her to use it with a lover. Heck, she had thought she would never be bold enough to wear it at all, and here she was, looking brazen and feeling beautiful.

  And as much as she didn’t recognize the woman who was fingering the narrow black ribbons threading through the plunging neckline, loosening them a bit more, enough to show the black lace of the babydoll underneath, she recognized the desire that made her lick her lips, made her insides clench, and wetness coat her pussy. And she yearned to deliver herself into Ludwig’s experienced hands.

  She shook her head at herself, glad that she had decided at the last minute not to go commando—not that the panties she was wearing were much of a covering.

  Before she enjoyed the night, she had to explain to Ludwig the terms of their relationship. She took a deep breath and untied the ribbons to retie them more firmly.

  “Stop.”

  Angelica’s hands went still at Ludwig’s deep voice. Her eyes locked with him in the mirror and her heart leapt as he slowly walked to her.

  His hands brushed lightly over her shoulders, ran down her arms and disengaged her fingers from the ribbons. He brushed his aroused body on her back, and whispered in her ear, “I will do this for you.”

  “I was thinking…we have to figure out—”

  “No.” He smoothed his fingers over her brow and down the curve of her face. “No more thinking. You should do nothing but feel.”

  “But I have—” She stopped when he spun her into his arms and placed a finger on her lips.

  Ludwig’s breath caught for a moment. “To feel, as I make love to you,” he finished for her.

  A tremor worked its way over her at his hot look. Her thighs clamped in anticipation, but her body stiffened.

  “There’s something I want to talk with you about.” She took a deep breath to prepare herself, but that caused her nipples to push against his chest in such a delicious manner that her thoughts scattered momentarily before she was able to focus once more.

  “Later.” He rubbed his thumb along her lips.

  She swallowed hard, easy prey to his magnetism.

  Part of her felt bad for using him in such a way, but surely he wouldn’t get too attached. He was an experienced man after all. They were used to taking what they wanted. Sex and selfish motivation would drive him to her bed and when the time came, it would take him out of it. There was no risk in this for either of them. He did enjoy her company just enough that they could come to a secret arrangement. Maybe he could visit more frequently. Maybe she could go to Lektenstaten often—to visit her sister, of course.

  “You’re frowning again.” He tsked and pushed the negligee from her shoulders.

  She looked down as it fell in a cloud to the floor, puddling around her. Looking up again, her gaze stopped on the thick erection his trousers couldn’t conceal.

  He followed her eyes, his own gaze on that only scrap of lace that stood between them.

  The knowledge was too much. Ludwig jerked her forward by the wrist he had captured. Her small body fit against him and he automatically flexed his erection into her. The softness of her felt good, combined with the silk of her clothing. Reaching for her face, he cupped her jaw only to drag her lips roughly forward as he leaned down till his mouth was only a breath away from hers. “Mein Gott. You’re so hot in this thing, I’m going to fuck you in it.”

  All her awareness centered on the tingling of her lips and a sudden, urgent desire to be kissed, to be taken. Hard. The plan has merit. Still. “Ludwig.”

/>   “For now, there are only a few words I want to hear.” He bit gently on her lower lip. “You can tell me faster, slower, harder, and—”

  Cristo, sí. Please, kiss me.

  He pressed his lips lightly against hers, then pulled back to look at her. “Softer.”

  Is that it? I need…more.

  “Then there’s my favorite…” He cradled her head with his hands. He breathed her perfume, felt her body’s every subtle movement as she accepted what was between them. “Don’t stop.”

  Her hands slipped up to his shoulders. “Don’t stop.”

  They were worlds apart but when he touched her all those differences seemed to melt away until it was just the two of them.

  Her hands splayed on his chest, enjoying the warm feel of his skin as she kissed him back. Her mouth parted wider, admitting his hungry eagerness to bend her to his seduction. A moan escaped from the back of her throat.

  Ludwig’s hands caressed her and his body turned, shifting hers with his, until they faced each other on their sides. His mouth never left hers, his tongue coaxing her passion higher.

  His hands gripped her at the neckline and tore the material, freeing her breasts to cup them with his palms.

  Angelica broke away from the kiss, breathing hard. “Ludwig?”

  “I need you. You have no idea how much I want you.” His strong fingers kneaded her softer flesh. “I hurt from how much I’ve missed you. I’m dying for you.”

  His head lowered, his tongue rasped over her breast, and all thought left her when his mouth closed over her nipple. He sucked in hard tugs that made her stomach clench, her desire burn brighter, and he nipped her lightly with his teeth.

  Her entire body jerked from the sharp pinch of pleasure that jolted straight to her brain as a result. She moaned louder, running her hands along his chest to his shoulders, and dug her fingernails into his skin where they curved. Her mind warned to push him away but instead she pulled him closer.

  When Ludwig tore his mouth away from her breast, she protested with a whimper. She ached from wanting him and her eyes opened to discover him watching her face closely.