Chapter 10 #2
"Yes." Her voice was hoarse and her heart shattered, but there was no way she would ever acknowledge any such thing.
Nor would she ever admit that she had bitten off more than she could chew.
"You should go back to your suite." She tried to push him away, but he would not budge.
"We wouldn't want the staff to find out about us. "
"I'm not done. We're not done."
"Look-"
He silenced her the only way he knew how to, by clamping his lips over hers.
The sky was pearling, indicating the dawning of a new day when he finally allowed her to get some sleep. But even when he heard her slight snore, he could not settle. He was turned onto his side, his head cradled by his hands as he watched her slumber.
He had never spent a full night with a woman before.
Another of his unwritten rules. Spending an entire night spoke of permanency and that was one thing he had never been interested in before.
They had made love three times, which was another first for him.
He could not get enough of her. She was inside his blood like a narcotic, lodged there.
Now that he had gotten a taste of her, he knew that once would never be enough. He had to have more.
Her hair was spread out on the pillows, hopelessly tangled by his fingers.
Looking at her and just being with her, he wondered how on earth that fiancé of hers could ever be with another woman.
The man must have been out of his bloody mind.
She fascinated him, Tomas mused fleetingly.
She was irreverent, stubborn as hell and a bloody nuisance most of the time, but she was the most fascinating woman he had ever met.
She infuriated him. With each word that came out of her mouth, she drove him crazy with anger.
With a smile hovering on his lips, he did another first: he pulled her against him and wrapped his arms around her to keep her in place.
*****
At first she thought she was dreaming. That she must be imagining that a man's arms were slung around her waist and one powerful hairy leg trapping hers. As soon as she opened her eyes, the memories came flooding back full force. She stayed absolutely still, her heart pounding in response.
She had been right about it being an experience with him. The man had moves. He had moves she had only read about. She had often snickered and thought it was highly improbable with regards to the descriptions romance novelists used.
Terms like 'trembling or quivering in ecstasy' or 'heart racing or pounding in anticipation' were all myths.
Something to sell books or hype up a lovemaking scene.
But she was proven wrong. She had felt everything.
In the past, she had resigned herself to the fact that she had never had an orgasm.
She had reasoned that something was wrong with her.
Brian had fueled that belief, by mentally patting her head and telling her not to worry about it.
"You're not a very passionate woman, darling, and nothing is wrong with that. Our lovemaking is pleasant and that's saying something."
The damn bastard had eroded more than her self-confidence; he had made her feel as if she was inadequate in bed.
A smile touched her lips as she recalled what had happened last night.
The prince had not been faking his reactions.
She, Antoinette Carter, had somehow managed to make this beautiful man shudder, a man with a magnificent body that would make Brian weep in envy.
Oh, he had done so much more for her. For the first time in her life, she had experienced not one or two, but four shattering orgasms. So, take that, you bastard.
"You're smiling."
She had been so wrapped up in her musings that she failed to notice that he was awake and staring at her.
"Care to share the joke?"
"It's nothing." Her eyes flickered to the sunlight seeping through the shutters. "It's morning!"
"Which generally comes after the night has passed." He resisted her efforts to move away easily, tightening his arms around her.
"And it's Sunday."
"The maids-"
"Will be up and about, yes."
"You have to go. I demand discretion."
"That you did." He stretched languidly, sliding one hand up and down her back. "Did that smile have anything to do with last night?"
"Don't flatter yourself."
"I don't have to." Leaning over, he tried kissing her mouth, only to have her turn aside. He kissed her smooth cheek instead. "I was thinking we could have breakfast on my balcony. The view from there is spectacular and after that, we go for a ride. There are parcels of the land you have not seen."
"See," she turned to face him, unnerved at the slumbrous look in his green eyes or the fact that he had shadows on his jaw, giving him an even sexier look.
This was her second time waking up in bed with a man.
Brian had been a bear first thing in the morning.
He would grunt out a greeting and tell her that he was not any good until he had his first cup of coffee.
He never looked like this. It brought home the fact that she must look like a hag with hair all over the place.
"You're doing exactly what I told you not to do.
This is not a relationship. There will be no having any form of meals or riding off into the sunset.
We're in this for the sex. You can go and have your meals with any of the hundreds of women at your beck and call.
I already told you I have a thing with Luther, and I intend to keep it. "
He clamped his fingers on her chin, effectively trapping her. "You want me to see other people."
"Yes!"
"And you're going to continue to see that... that idiot from the gallery."
"He's not an idiot. He's a good man and yes, I intend to keep on seeing him."
"Will you be sleeping with him too?" he asked in a dangerously soft voice.
"If I want to. It's my body."
"I think not."
"What?" she blinked at him. "You cannot tell me what to do."
"When it comes to your sex life, I certainly can. I will not allow you to be with that person."
"His name is Luther and I can do whatever the hell I want," she blazed.
"I already made it plain to you that there are no expectations where we're concerned.
You go your way and I go mine. What we do in the bedroom has nothing to do with our lives.
I've done the relationship thing, and it didn't work out and besides-" she laughed hoarsely.
"You're a fricking prince. We're poles apart.
Not to mention the fact that you're a womanizer.
I hate men like you. I've been with a man like you and I ended up getting hurt.
Now, I'm taking charge of my life and doing whatever I please.
If you don't like those terms, you can go to one of those hundreds of women who I'm sure would be willing to do anything you want them to. I'm not one of them."
Her impassioned speech left her exhausted.
"And you will not have a problem if I see other women?"
"Why should I?" she asked tautly. "I don't own you and you don't own me."
"And after what happened between us last night and this morning, the passion between us, the intensity, the heat, you will not have a problem if I do all of it to another woman."
Ignoring the strange leap of her heart at his words, she lifted her chin.
"No."
"And you want to continue seeing this Luther person."
"Yes. That's what I said."
"And if I want us to be exclusive?"
The hope that flared inside her chest was ruthlessly crushed. She had been a fool once; she wasn't going to be one again. That part of her life was over.
"Then that's your problem."
"I think it's more of a 'we' problem." He was angry, furious actually.
For the first time in his life, he was practically begging a woman to go steady with him and the offer was being tossed back in his face.
And by one who wasn't really his type. If it wasn't so pathetic, it would be laughable.
He was Prince Tomas, royalty. His family had been around for thousands of years.
He had royal blood flowing through his veins.
Women pursued him. He had money and looks. He could buy anything he wanted, be anywhere. And now this American woman, this employee was refusing his offer, his most generous offer, the privilege of being with him. It was bloody humiliating.
"You want sex then-" he said savagely. "Then I suppose I should deliver. You want a stud, well, lady, I'm here to please."
"What-"
"Shut up!" he blazed. Pushing her back, he covered her body with his. As angry as he was with her, he could not seem to stop wanting her. He should be able to simply walk away, but he was unable to do so. Sliding into her, he gripped her hair, his face a mask of fury.
"Stop this!"
"Or what?" he taunted. He was getting angrier by the minute and rapidly losing control. "You'll stop having sex with me?"
"Why are you so angry?" She tried to shove at him, but he would not budge. It only made him drive himself deeper inside her. Her traitorous body arched in response as passion flooded her entire being.
"Why am I so angry?" He had seen her unmistakable response, and it gave him a dark thrill. "You want to juggle two men, querida?" He moved then, slowly, stroking her until she was becoming mindless with desire. "Be my guest. But know this-" He yanked her head upwards and ground his mouth on hers.
"Know this-" he whispered, breath mingling with hers erotically and sending shivers all over her body.
"I know which buttons to touch." He reached between them, wedging his hand between their bodies and stroking the swollen flesh.
She erupted violently, crying out his name and clinging to him as the climax slammed into her.
"See?" he whispered thickly, his lips moving over hers. "Your body cannot lie."