Chapter Five #2
He’d been a playboy, yes. But he’d never lost control of his senses.
Never done drugs. And as for women, he’d slept with his fair share, no denying that, but about one per cent of the actual number the tabloids would have people believe, and he’d never ever let a woman think that there was anything more to it than sex.
If they’d cried foul, and many had, it had only been to try and extort something out of Caius.
And, perhaps even more crucially, Caius had believed Poppy about the baby.
When he thought about that night in Paris with the benefit of hindsight, the signs had been there that she’d been a virgin.
He’d just been too hot for her to notice them.
But she’d been shy. A little awkward. And tight.
His body responded now to that memory and how the strength of her orgasm had made him see stars.
He’d always found sex enjoyable but not…so mind-bendingly explosive that he’d passed out. It had been because she was a virgin, assured a little voice. But Caius wasn’t so sure. Because he still wanted her. He wanted to know if it would be the same again. More intense? Most likely less.
One thing he was sure of was that if he had Poppy again, her appeal would soon fade. It always did.
She might be trying to fool him or even herself that she didn’t want him, but he felt the hum of electricity between them. Felt the crackle if they got too close. She’d been melting against him when they’d danced earlier and they’d both lost track of where they were.
He’d always known not to expect to want his royal wife. And yet here he was, aching for his very royal and very unexpected wife.
At that moment a light came on above Caius’s head and up to his right-hand side where the bedrooms were situated in the tower. He looked up and held his breath when he saw Poppy step out onto a terrace that ran around that part of the building.
Her hair was down in loose waves and she was changed out of the wedding dress and into what looked like a silk strappy vest top and matching shorts.
Shorts with slits in the sides, showing off her toned thighs.
Thighs he could remember gripping his hips tight.
The memory of her breathless entreaties filled his head. More, harder…please.
She ran her hands through her hair, obviously massaging her skull, and the dark auburn glinted in the soft golden light coming from the room behind her.
The breeze pressed her top against her breasts, outlining their full shape, and then it lifted, exposing her belly and the gentle firm swell.
Without his even realising what he was doing, Caius’s hands had gone to the wall and he was holding on tight because the world felt as if it were spinning a little.
She put her hands on her belly, either side, and was looking down, an expression of absorption on her face. Something pierced the tide of hot desire engulfing Caius. It took him a second to realise it was envy, that he wasn’t the one inspiring that level of absorption.
Jealous of his own unborn child? Caius ducked back into the office again quickly before Poppy might catch him ogling her like a lusty teenager.
He saw a drinks cabinet in the corner of the room and went over, pouring himself a measure of whiskey, throwing it back, hoping that it might help eclipse the raging need inside him.
It didn’t. Caius knew fatefully that nothing would quench it except indulging it. He wanted his wife. How very inconvenient when there was a mountain of baggage between them.
And yet…they were here on this island, albeit within swimming distance of Valdere City, for the next few days, for all intents and purposes to create a child that was already growing within her womb.
And Caius really did have to come to terms with this whole situation because it wasn’t going to end any time soon.
So instead of fighting it…maybe he should just go with the flow a little and get to know his new wife.
It had never been in his nature to invite conflict, not after watching his parents tear emotional lumps out of each other all his life.
He couldn’t deny that Poppy wasn’t like his other women.
But that didn’t mean that things would be any different once he’d had her again.
It wasn’t as if it would go any deeper than the physical anyway.
Even if she was the mother of his child.
A concept, he had to admit uncomfortably, that was becoming more and more real in a way he hadn’t anticipated.
He pictured her again with her hands either side of that small but very definite bump, skin glowing pale in the moonlight. He pushed that image and revelation aside.
All he wanted was the physical. And if there was one thing he excelled at, it was seducing women.
The following morning Poppy was sitting on the outdoor terrace being served breakfast. It would be another beautiful clear sunny day. She could hear the gentle lap of the lake water meeting the rocky shore at the end of the garden, where it sloped gently downwards.
She was at the back of the chateau and so faced a spectacular view of the mountains. It was peaceful and quiet and for a moment she could almost forget that she was now a married woman. A queen. With a king.
A king who was still in bed apparently. And she’d slept late—unintentionally—a side effect from the long day before. She blamed pregnancy hormones.
But then for a sybarite like Caius Mansur, sleeping late was probably quite usual.
The newspapers were spread on the table, brought over from the mainland first thing. Pictures of her kiss with Caius on the palace balcony was on the cover of almost every tabloid and broadsheet.
Poppy picked up the nearest paper, taking in the photo and the way Caius’s hand was on her jaw.
She was leaning towards him, one hand lifted and fingers spread across his chest. How had she let it be so…
provocative? It looked undeniably sexual.
Was it just the effect of this man? That everything he looked at and touched somehow became more erotic?
Suddenly a bit breathless, she looked away from the photo to the printed words of the article. But she stopped skim-reading when something caught her eye and found herself reading intently.
‘Good morning.’
Poppy looked up from the article and her eyes widened on a bare-chested Caius, who was wet, and dripping water onto the terrace. He had a small towel slung around his slim hips and it took a second for Poppy’s brain to function, so unexpected was this vision.
Before she could stop herself she blurted out, ‘I thought you were still in bed.’ Far from it. He was wide awake and glowing with rude vitality, body honed and muscular.
One dark brow arched. ‘I’ve been up since six a.m., and you’re right, the lake was extremely refreshing.’
Oof. She was the one just out of bed in leggings and a loose T-shirt. No make-up. Hair pulled back into a careless bun. Even though he was half naked, she felt like the untidy one.
‘I didn’t know you wore glasses,’ he observed.
Poppy reached for them, taking them off. She didn’t wear contacts when she was considered off duty. Feeling prickly, she said, ‘Well, it’s not as if we’ve spent a whole lot of time around each other.’
His gaze flicked to her mid-section and back up and he said dryly, ‘We’ve spent enough time together.’
She felt that like a little sharp dart. Another reminder of why they were here and how she’d curtailed his life.
Caius sat down on the other side of the table and staff attended him, bringing fresh fruit, granola, pastries, coffee.
He smiled and thanked them. Poppy couldn’t seem to take her gaze off his chest, broad and muscled.
The smattering of dark hair, curling wetly against his skin.
The dark discs of his nipples. It was positively indecent.
She lifted her gaze and he was watching her, those blue eyes far too bright and knowing. Nothing wrong with her eyesight now. She could feel a blush rising upwards and took a quick sip of tea to try and stave it off.
When they were alone again, he said, sounding amused, ‘I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you thought I was still in bed.’
She couldn’t stop the blush this time but he seemed to take pity on her, saying, ‘The truth is that I’ve always been an early bird. Even with a hangover.’
This sat a little uneasily now with what she’d just read in the paper. Caius flicked a glance down. ‘Anything of interest?’
Poppy put the paper down. ‘Why didn’t you tell me the full story about the financial crisis you were dealing with?’
Caius took a sip of coffee, unconcerned. ‘I didn’t think you were interested.’
‘You let me think the worst.’
‘I didn’t do anything. If you came to that conclusion that was on you.’
He had a point, damn him. And then he seemed to take pity on her, saying with a shrug, ‘I’m used to people thinking the worst. It doesn’t bother me.’
Poppy didn’t believe that for a second. No one was that immune to criticism. ‘You don’t exactly help the situation.’
Caius’s gaze narrowed on her. ‘I learnt a long time ago that the media like to stick to a certain narrative, and I’m not saying I didn’t give them the ammunition, but it grew bigger than me, and if I’d gone up against them, it would have created an even bigger storm.’
Poppy snorted a little. ‘So you’re saying it was all lies?’
‘Not all, no, but about twenty per cent of what they reported had some truth.’
Poppy lifted up the paper. ‘And this?’
Now Caius looked a little uncomfortable. ‘True.’
Poppy assimilated that. The fact that Caius’s financial crisis had actually been something not so superficial at all.
A tech company he’d invested in had almost gone bust due to losing state funding, potentially causing mass unemployment in a small town in Southern Italy.
Caius had stepped in, using his own finances to prop it up until the government had restored that funding.
‘Don’t look at me like that, Poppy.’
‘Like what?’
‘I’m not suddenly some white knight. I saved that business because I had a stake in it. It made sense.’
The fact that he’d single-handedly turned that situation around and saved hundreds of jobs in a challenged region struggling to invest in new technology as a long-term initiative might indeed make sense, but Poppy suspected the human aspect had played a bigger role than he would admit. And that was intriguing.
He peeled a small orange and asked, ‘So, are you going to give me a tour of the island?’
A little taken aback she asked, ‘You want to spend time with me?’
He shrugged. ‘I figure maybe it’s time for a little truce. After all, we’re married now and will become parents in about five months’ time. We’re on an island. What else is there to do?’
Was there a gleam in his eyes or was that her imagination?
Why did Poppy suddenly feel as if the rules had been changed?
And as if the earth had just tilted on its axis slightly?
As though the man she’d thought she had summed up was suddenly not the sum of those parts at all, but something entirely unexpected?
And why did that make her feel so nervous?
Because something had just changed. And it was dangerous because she knew well that, contrary to what she’d told herself about that night in Paris—that the sex hadn’t been about emotion—it had in fact been all about emotion.
Because Caius had got to her that night, under her skin.
She’d trusted him enough to sleep with him.
She’d obviously sensed something more to him.
He’d touched a place inside her where she protected herself against rejection and abandonment. He’d made her feel wanted and desired and seen. And that was terrifying. And why she’d called off the engagement discussions.
Yet here she was. Carrying his child. Married.
For at least five years. She couldn’t let him see that she still wanted him.
It was more important than ever to keep boundaries intact or she’d never get through this.
In any case, she didn’t have to worry about him throwing her over his shoulder to take her to bed.
He couldn’t have made it clearer last night that he had no interest in her.
Once they were through this mandatory honeymoon period she would be encouraging him to go back to New York or wherever he wanted to go.
She could get on with ruling her people as she wanted to, ushering in a new era.
She hated the little prick of regret that she’d be doing it on her own but this was the consequence of her choices.
He smiled. ‘You can trust me, I promise.’
Poppy sent him a look. Of one thing she was still certain: she couldn’t trust this man as far as she could throw him. But she wasn’t about to let him see how unnerved she was.
She forced a bright smile and said, ‘I’ll get changed and we’ll head out.’