Chapter 12 #3
“I had a much more interesting support to hold on to. And my ankle feels better. Practically brand new.” He grinned as he grabbed the second crutch that was leaning against an occasional table.
“Let’s go to my private office so I can write up a report for Mikel of your encounter at the Dragon Center. ”
He pivoted toward a door near the one leading to the dining room and gestured for her to go ahead of him. As she walked, she put an extra sway in her hips because she could sense him watching her. After the explosive sex, she felt powerfully feminine.
“You are not helping me focus on business,” he said with a rasp in his voice.
She threw him a smoldering glance over her shoulder, a wash of heat flowing through her at the hunger in his eyes.
But that would have to wait. She pushed the door open and raised her eyebrows in admiration. “I want an office like this,” she said.
The spacious room held a conference table and chairs, as well as a sleek U-shaped desk supporting several high-tech screens. What excited her envy, though, was the row of tall windows that gave Raul a view over the rooftops of San Ignacio to the rolling fields and mountains beyond.
“Best view in the palace, in my opinion.” He stood in profile beside her, his gaze directed through the windows, while she found an even better view in the strong line of his jaw, the straight blade of his nose, and the way his hair swept back from his forehead.
Everything he gazed at was his, in a way.
Did he feel the weight of that every time he looked out the window?
She gave an internal grimace at the size of his responsibility.
He turned back to her. “May I ask you to grab my laptop from the desk and bring it to the conference table?”
She fetched the laptop while he settled on one side of the walnut-and-chrome table, propping his injured foot on the gray leather chair across from him.
She sat at his side, their thighs brushing in a delicious friction, and slid the computer in front of him.
He left it closed, though, and focused his gaze on her.
“Tell me about your bite at the Dragon Center.”
As she gave him a summary of her encounter with St. Germain, he listened with such attention that she felt it as an almost physical force.
Somehow, he had become the prince again, and she found her tone and diction becoming more formal, an odd juxtaposition to what they had just done in the living room.
When she finished, he nodded, a wave of his hair falling forward at his temple. She stopped herself from brushing it back into place. “What kind of impression did you get of St. Germain? Would he tell someone where a dragon’s nest was, even if he suspected that it would get stolen?”
“Well, given that he asked for cash, he wouldn’t give me his cell number, and he immediately came up with a rendezvous location, I would say he has done something similar before.” She considered for a moment. “He had that slick-con-man vibe too. Very personable, but a little sleazy.”
“Selling dragon eggshells is not strictly illegal. Selling the location of a nest isn’t either, unless he knew for a fact that the buyer planned to take the eggs and/or the dragon,” Raul ruminated before he flipped open the laptop and started typing.
He looked up with a smile that sent an ache of want tingling through her.
“Quinn will probably give us the most thorough background check on Ricardo St. Germain that has ever been done. She’ll be so happy to have a nonwedding-related task to do. ”
After a couple of minutes’ work, Raul spun the laptop toward her. “Is this an accurate summary?”
It was a master class in how to write a report—concise yet complete, the language interesting without being intrusive, her impressions included but clearly labeled as opinion rather than fact.
“I think you’ve written a few of these before,” she said.
“It’s perfect.” His skill sent another flare of yearning through her. He was sexy and brilliant.
She swiveled the computer back to him as her admiration twined with a sudden disquiet. Seeing the level of his work reminded her again that he wasn’t just a hot guy she had great sex with. He was the future ruler of her country.
And a man she had more feelings for than she should.
His trust in her was undermining all her barriers.
When he called her mi corazón , her insides turned to mush, and her heart did flip-flops.
Why had she let herself be seduced into caring about him?
She winced inwardly. The end of this relationship was going to hurt. A lot.
Raul typed and clicked. “There. It’s on its way to Mikel.” He raised his intense blue eyes. “How would you feel about going through with the meeting with St. Germain?”
“Fine. He didn’t give off a violent vibe. But I would need cash,” she said, her pulse speeding up at the thought of continuing to help with the investigation since it meant extra time spent with her fascinating prince.
“We’ll see what Mikel thinks.” Raul gave her an approving nod. “But thank you for being willing to put yourself at risk.”
“I don’t consider it a dangerous assignment.” However, she basked in his appreciation.
He shifted in his chair, and she caught the tiny wince that tightened his lips.
“How is your ankle really feeling?” she asked, putting her hand against his cheek.
“It twinges every now and then, but I’ll be able to walk normally by Gabriel’s wedding, gracias a Dios .”
“Why do you care so much about that?” she asked.
A shadow crossed his face. “It’s the least I can do for Gabri.”
“You know he doesn’t care if you limp,” she said.
“But I do.” He turned so he could kiss her hand. “Let’s grab a couple of beers and sit on the terraza in the sunshine. There’s a very comfortable double lounge we can share.”
“As long as you’re certain your father won’t drop in unexpectedly while we’re sharing it.” She stood and pulled him up with her.
He bent to give her a kiss on the lips that made her insides spark before he smiled. “Pater is a very nice guy.”
“He’s the king,” she said flatly.
“You just need to get to know him.” Raul grinned. “Stay for dinner tonight. The whole family is coming here, and it’s very casual. You’ll have several friends at the dinner table already.”
“Oh, hell no!” She shook her head vigorously. “Too much royalty in one room.”
His grin vanished. “Do you think of me as royalty?”
She hesitated. She didn’t want to bring up the barrier between them until it forced their relationship to its inevitable end. “Sometimes. Like when I read the report you just typed up,” she admitted. “Or when the king stops in to check on you as his son.”
“Does it matter to you?” The shadows were back in his eyes.
She had to tread carefully.
“It would be less complicated if you were a commoner like me.” She held his gaze. “But then you wouldn’t be the complex, sexy, fascinating person that you are, so I can’t wish you weren’t the prince. It all goes together to make you .”
That was the truth, as far as it went.
“We’re just people,” he said, still solemn. “We breathe the same air and drink the same water as you do. We sprain our ankles and collapse when we get dehydrated.”
She shook her head. He would never be able to understand the size of the chasm between them. “This is getting too deep for me. Let’s grab those beers and work on our tans.”
He remained serious, searching her face. Finally, he shrugged and gave her a smile that seemed a little forced. “If we sunbathe naked, we won’t get any tan lines.”
The thought of lying naked in the sunshine, her arms and legs entwined with Raul’s, poured a glide of arousal through her body. “That might lead to other things we shouldn’t do when we’re exposed outside.”
An hour later, they lay snuggled together—fully clothed—on the two-person chaise longue, half dozing in the sun after polishing off a couple of Dark Lord Imperial Stouts each.
Her head rested on his chest, rising and falling with his breath.
Her legs were tangled with his, their bare feet touching.
He had hiked up her T-shirt a few inches and was stroking bare skin, which sent tingles dancing through her.
Raul muttered under his breath and reached into his jeans pocket to pull out his phone.
Erica tensed and lifted her head as he scanned the message. “Is it your father?”
“No. Mikel. He’s at the palace and already has Quinn’s report on St. Germain.” He frowned. “Shall we ask him to join us?”
A little burr of resentment scratched at her that he would so easily end this perfect, sunny idyll. But it was inevitable that the world would intrude. “Sure,” she said.
“You don’t mind Mikel?” Raul sounded surprised at her ready agreement.
“What do you mean?” She pulled her T-shirt down.
“He makes most people nervous. De verdad , he makes me a little uneasy sometimes.”
“I think he reminds me of my father. The heroic side of him,” she said as she analyzed her lack of fear of the formidable security chief. “Very focused. Very intense. Very protective. Not to mention that I have an entirely clear conscience, so I have nothing to hide.”
“Mikel as a father figure? That’s a new one.” Raul shook his head. “Yet you’re panicky around my father, who is much less sinister.”
“‘Panicky’ might be too strong a description.” She ran her hand down his chest. “I know what improper things I’ve been doing with his son, so that makes me feel awkward.”
Not to mention that his father was the king.
Raul seized her hand and pressed a kiss in her palm, flicking it with the tip of his tongue. “As soon as Mikel is gone, I plan to do more improper things.”
Just like that, she wanted to rip off her jeans and straddle him right then and there, impaling herself on his cock. But Mikel was coming, so she disentangled her legs from his, got up from the chaise longue, and used her phone to check her hair since Raul had been running his fingers through it.
He levered himself up from the chaise longue with a heavy sigh. “Let’s go to my office.” His face lit with wicked anticipation. “After our meeting, we can use the conference table for some fun and games.”
“Stop doing that,” she said, having a vision of lying back on the table naked while he opened her thighs and did naughty things to her. Her nipples tightened.
“What?”
“Making me think evil thoughts when I should be focused on dragon eggs.” She was pretty sure that Mikel would notice if her skin stayed this flushed.
Raul grinned and gave her butt a lascivious squeeze. “It’s motivation to keep the meeting short.”