Secret Heirs: Royal Appointment
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He looked like a natural-born hunter who thought he’d found his prey. While under her blunt manner, Callie was sugar and spice and all things nice, and determined to remain that way. Her body could argue all it liked that sugar and spice could still enjoy verbal sparring, but she had no intention of taking things any further. Luca might be everything she’d fantasised about while she was on her knees scrubbing floors in the pub, but this was reality, not a dream world, and the safest thing she could do now was leave. ‘I was about to go home,’ she explained, glancing away down the drive.
‘Aren’t you enjoying yourself?’
Too much. ‘I am.’ She couldn’t lie. She’d enjoyed everything about today, and now the food smelled amazing, the band was playing, and it was a beautifully warm evening beneath a canopy of stars. And then there was Luca. ‘But I’ve got work tomorrow.’
‘So do I,’ he said smoothly.
‘You’re making this difficult for me.’ And hard to breathe, she silently added.
‘Why deny yourself the reward for a hard day’s work?’
That depended on the reward. Good grief, he was beautiful! His stillness reminded her of a big, soft-pawed predator preparing to pounce. She didn’t need a wake-up call, Callie concluded. She needed a bucket of ice-cold water tossing over her head.
‘Hey, Luca!’
They both swung around to see Marco coming over. It broke the tension for a while as Luca greeted Marco, but once the two men were done with complicated handshakes and Marco moved on, the two of them were alone again. ‘I thought you’d have gone in search of nuts by now,’ Luca remarked dryly.
‘I was waiting to say goodbye to you.’
‘Ah.’
Was he convinced, Callie wondered, or had he guessed that she was trapped like a rabbit in headlights by his brazen masculinity?
‘So why are you here, mystery woman? You’re staying at a five-star hotel, but work in the fields picking lemons?’
‘What’s wrong with that?’ she challenged.
‘Nothing.’
‘Well, now we’ve got that sorted out, I’ll say goodnight.’ To give him his due, there was no more questions. Luca shrugged and stood aside to let her go, but as she passed he reached out to smooth a lock of hair from her face. His touch thrilled her. Her skin tingled, and her nipples tightened, while tiny pulses of sensation beat low down in her belly.
‘Stay,’ he insisted. ‘You’ll have more fun.’
That was what she was afraid of. ‘Should I be flattered by your suggestion?’ she asked coolly, searching his eyes.
‘No,’ he said bluntly. ‘You should be on your guard.’
She made a point of glancing around. ‘Are there many predatory men at this party?’
‘None that stand a chance of getting close to you.’
‘Will you keep them away? I would have thought you had better things to do.’
‘And I thought you were leaving,’ he countered.
‘I am.’
He could hardly believe it when she walked away. This wasn’t a woman he could tease into his bed, but a woman to be reckoned with. Good. He needed a challenge. There was only one woman who could hold his interest tonight. He could hardly believe the transformation from butterfly at the bar, to working girl in the lemon groves. It was a good mix. That stubborn chin clinched it for him. He was done with insipid. She had a great walk too. He feasted his eyes as she walked away from him with her head held high and her shapely butt swaying provocatively beneath the simple clothes. She hadn’t a clue who he was. He doubted it would have made any difference. Status meant nothing to Callie, as proved by her easy transition from luxury living in the five-star hotel, to some of the hardest physical work in the area.
The sun had been kind to her today. Flushed from physical activity, she looked good enough to eat, something he’d put on hold until later in the evening, he reflected dryly. He watched as she met up with her friends. She was more relaxed than she’d been at the hotel. Laughing easily, she mimed words when the different languages spoken became a problem. Nothing seemed to faze her. Apart from him.
She was comfortable around everyone, as he was, and far more beautiful than he remembered. Young and natural—even the smear of dirt on her neck only made him think about licking it off. It was time he stopped thinking about Callie naked in his arms, or he’d be walking around the party uncomfortably aroused.
And, before he committed himself to taking her to bed, there were questions to be answered. Why was she picking fruit for a few euros a day when she was staying at a five-star hotel? Was it just for the experience? Who was funding her? Why was she in Italy? Was this a holiday or an escape? If she was escaping, from what? He had no intention of allowing Max to lure him into a honey trap that could discredit Luca, and expose the principality of Fabrizio to corruption beneath his half-brother’s rule. It was time to find out more.
As he approached Callie her friends melted away. ‘Where are they going?’ she asked with surprise.
They were diplomatically giving him space. Callie couldn’t help but be oblivious to the dynamics that existed between a prince and his people. However much he would have liked it to be different, obstacles between him and Utopia were not in his gift to remove.
‘Anyone would think you’d got the plague,’ she said, bringing a comic slant to bear on the situation.
‘Let’s hope it’s not that serious,’ he said, loving the way she could pop the pomposity bubble before it even had chance to form. She had raw, physical appeal, he mused as she stared up at him. It was all too easy to imagine her limbs wrapped around him as she sobbed with pleasure in his arms. ‘Dance?’ he suggested, curbing baser needs.
‘Not if I can help it,’ she exclaimed.
The response was pure Callie. ‘Why not?’ he demanded, play-acting wounded.
‘Because I have two left feet and the sense of rhythm of a hamster on a wheel.’
He shrugged. ‘Should be interesting. I’m a fast mover myself.’
She raised a disapproving brow, but her eyes betrayed her interest.
‘Perhaps I can slow you down?’ he suggested. ‘Show you an alternative to racing to the finish?’
Her cheeks flushed red. She’d got the sexual message in his words loud and clear, but she hit him with a blunt response. ‘You must be wearing steel-capped boots to feel so confident. And I’m going to sit this one out.’
He was nowhere near finished and caught hold of her arm. Momentum thrust her against him. She felt sensational, strong, lithe, and yet softly plump in all the right places. She was so tiny compared to him, but they fitted together perfectly.
‘You’re taking a lot for granted.’ She frowned, but made no attempt to move away.
‘I don’t see you rushing off,’ he countered softly.
‘Caveman.’
‘Nut freak.’
‘Nut freak?’ She stared into his eyes. Her lips were just a tempting distance away.
‘You’re quaint,’ he said, meeting her jade-green eyes head-on.
‘Quaint?’ she queried.
‘Old-fashioned.’
She appeared to consider this, and then said, ‘There’s nothing wrong with tradition. Someone has to take responsibility for keeping standards high.’
Yes. That was him. He stared at a mouth he could have feasted on until she fell asleep with exhaustion. ‘Talk to me,’ he murmured.
‘About what?’ she asked, her brow crinkling in enquiry.
He didn’t care. He just loved to watch her lips move as she goaded him. The thought of teasing those lips apart with his tongue to claim all the dark recesses of her mouth, along with everything else, fired him up until the hunger to take her was all-consuming. ‘That dance we talked about?’
‘You talked about.’ But she didn’t resist when he steered her towards a space that miraculously, as far as Callie was concerned, had opened for them on the packed dance floor.
When Luca pressed her close she gasped at the intensity of feeling. She was conscious that people were staring at them and whispering, which she guessed was only to be expected when she was dancing with the hottest man at the party. Why he’d chosen her to dance with, she had no idea. She hadn’t exactly made it easy for him. When he nuzzled her hair aside and kissed her neck, she didn’t care what his reasons were. She didn’t care about anything. The world and everyone in it simply dropped away.
CHAPTER FOUR
RISK VERSUS PLEASURE, Callie thought as she flicked a glance into Luca’s eyes. Even the briefest look sent heat surging through her. She could trust herself for one dance, she decided, which might have had something to do with the fact that when Luca took hold of her hand a thrill raced through her. When his other hand slipped into the hollow in the small of her back, she could think of nothing but closer contact. Fighting the urge, she kept a sensible distance between them. Other couples had made space for them, so there was no need to cling to him like a limpet.
Luca was really popular, she realised as they started to move to the music. They were attracting lots of interested glances and smiles. In fact, she would call it more of a buzz, so maybe the Prince was close by. She glanced around and realised that she wouldn’t know the Prince if she tripped over him. Everyone was probably wondering how she got so lucky, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was missing something. There was no chance to dwell on it. It was far more important to keep her wits about her. Dancing with Luca was a high-risk sport, she concluded as the sinuous melody bound them closer together. There was only thing more intimate they could do and be this close, and that was to make love—
She could put that out of her head right now! She was going to have one dance, and then she was going home. To pull away from Luca before the music ended would be rude. To fall into the trap of relaxing in his arms was stupid. Control would be her watchword. At least for now. Another, far more reckless side of Callie wanted to know why she couldn’t see this adventure out. She wasn’t Callie who scrubbed floors for a living now, but Callie from the lemon groves, who had a whole world of adventure tucked up inside her.
She made herself relax. Luca was right about dancing with him being easy. For some reason her feet seemed to know what to do. Her body moved instinctively with his. They could have been alone on the dance floor. She looked up to see him smiling a lazy, confident smile. He was good. He was very good. Luca might look rugged and tough, but when it came to seduction, he was smooth. So long as she was aware of it, she’d be okay, Callie reassured herself as they danced on.
But he must feel her trembling with arousal. Her body was on fire for him. Her heart was banging in her chest. She’d never played such dangerous games before. Luca was so brazenly virile she couldn’t think straight. She wanted to lace her fingers through his hair, and explore his body. She wanted to feel his sharp black stubble rasp her skin, and his firm, curving mouth tease hers into submission. While his big strong hands position me for pleasure...
No! She had to leave now.
But she didn’t.
And then an annoying drone buzzed overhead. ‘It’s only just checking who’s around,’ Luca reassured her when she looked up.
‘Like we’re so important,’ she said dryly. ‘I guess the Prince must be around.’
‘It’s a natural precaution when there’s a crowd,’ Luca explained.
Hmm. She loved to watch his mouth tilt at the corners when he smiled. ‘You’ve worked here before, so you’re used to it,’ she pointed out, ‘but this is all new to me.’ And how! And how fabulous, Callie thought as the music started up again, and one dance segued smoothly into two.
‘Tell me about home for you,’ Luca prompted.
‘I’m from a small town in the north of England.’
‘What’s it like?’
His hands were looped lightly around her waist as he pulled his head back to stare at her. A sensible question was welcome. A return to reality was exactly what she needed when their bodies were an electric hair’s breadth apart. But how to explain to a man who lived in one of the most beautiful countries in the world that her life back home was not like this? She settled for the truth. ‘I’m very lucky. I have the best of neighbours, a good job, and wonderful friends.’
‘So you live alone?’ he pressed as they danced on.
It was hard to concentrate on anything while she was this close to Luca, but she shook her mind back to the facts. ‘I lived with my father until recently. He died a short time before I came to Italy.’
‘I’m very sorry.’
‘He was killed in a drunken brawl,’ she explained. Luca had sounded genuinely concerned, and she didn’t want to mislead him, but her eyes brimmed as she said this. It had been such a tragic waste of life. ‘The world keeps turning,’ she said, to deflect Luca’s interest from the confusion on her face. Guilt had always played such a large part in her thinking where her father was concerned. She had never had any influence over him, but had always wished she could have changed things for the better for him.
‘And now you’re spreading your wings,’ Luca guessed, bringing her back on track.
‘I’m trying different things,’ she confirmed, brightening as she thought about the short time she’d been in Italy. ‘I love it here. I love the warmth of the people, and the sunshine, the glamour of a party beneath the stars—who wouldn’t love being here on the Prince’s estate? I feel free for the first time in a long time,’ she admitted carelessly. ‘Sorry. My mouth runs away with me sometimes.’
‘No. Go on,’ Luca encouraged. ‘I’m interested. I want to hear more.’
She was careful not to add the word adventure to her gush of information. He would definitely get the wrong idea. She told him a little more, and then his arms closed around her. His embrace was worryingly addictive and people were packed around them on the dance floor, making dancing close inevitable. Luca was easy to talk to and soon she was telling him things that perhaps she shouldn’t, like the camaraderie down the pub where she worked that could so easily erupt into violence when people had had too much to drink.
‘Dio, Callie, how could your father let you work there?’
She frowned. ‘No one gave me permission, and it was a well-paid job. Good, honest work,’ she emphasised, and then she laughed. ‘They had to pay their staff well, in order to keep them in such a rough area.’
‘It sounds horrendous,’ Luca remarked, not seeing anything amusing in what she’d said.
‘We needed the money,’ she said honestly, ‘and there aren’t too many options where I come from.’
Luca was a passionate Italian male, Callie reminded herself, and they could be very protective. He might look hard as rock, but he was no brute. And she was no saint, Callie thought as his hard thigh eased between hers. She tried using force of will to pretend nothing was happening, but that was the biggest fail yet. He was so big and she was so small that relaxing against him soon became snuggling into him, which felt ridiculously good, almost as if it was supposed to be. Music quickly restored her moral compass when the beat speeded up. She thought he’d let her go, lead her off the dance floor, but instead he caught her closer still.
‘You’re a good dancer.’
‘Only because you lift me off my feet.’ She laughed, then reviewed what was happening to her body while they were brushing, rubbing, nudging. It was both sensational and addictive. She wanted more. She wanted to toss her moral compass away.
As if sensing the way her thoughts were turning, Luca whispered in her ear, ‘I’m sure you’ve had enough dancing for now.’
She pulled back her head to stare into his eyes, which was dangerous, because now she discovered she was addicted to danger too. The camera drone chose that moment to intrude. ‘If the person behind those controls wants to take a better look at us, why don’t they just come down here and say so?’
‘I doubt we’re the sole object of the controller’s attention.’
‘You could have fooled me.’ She glared at the drone. ‘Do you think it’s so interested because the Prince is here?’
‘Possibly,’ Luca agreed.
‘I haven’t seen him yet. Have you? I mean, you’ve worked on the estate before, so you must know him.’
‘I’m offended,’ Luca said, half grinning, which suggested he wasn’t offended at all. ‘All you want to talk about is the Prince.’
‘It’s something to tell them about back home.’
‘What about me?’ he growled.
‘Don’t look for compliments. You won’t get them from me.’
He laughed and swept her off her feet.
‘Put me down this instant,’ she exclaimed.
‘Not a chance,’ he said. Amusement coloured his voice. ‘Don’t you want to know where your adventures could take you?’
‘I’ve got a pretty good idea, which is why I hope your tongue is firmly planted in your cheek. Just for the record, I’ll be sleeping on my own tonight,’ she added as Luca strode on across the courtyard with her safely locked in his arms.
‘Brava,’ he said, showing no sign of slowing down.
The crowd parted like the Red Sea, she noticed. She should put up some sort of token struggle, but it was a magical night, a magical moment, and not too many of them came along.
Her senses rioted when Luca dipped his head to brush a kiss against her neck. She would see this adventure through, so long as it only took her from one side of the courtyard to the other. ‘I have to go,’ she insisted, when he lowered her to her feet to acknowledge some boisterous partygoers.
‘No. You have to stay,’ he argued when he was done, and so close to her ear that it tingled.
‘Are you determined to lead me astray?’
‘Would I?’ Sweeping her up before she had chance to protest, he strode on towards the palace gardens.
She was dangerously aroused, but for one night, she was going to be Callie from the lemon groves, without fear or guilt, or any of the dutiful thoughts that had curbed her in the past.
‘Where are you taking me?’ she asked as Luca opened a gate leading to lemon groves.
‘Wait and see.’
He didn’t stop until they reached the riverbank where he set her down. She had free will. She could do what she liked. She didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to. Conscious he was watching her, she smiled, but Luca wasn’t fooled. ‘What’s worrying you?’ he said.
‘I’m not worried.’ Apart from the longing to have more nights like this, which she knew in her heart of hearts would not be possible. Moonlight lit the scene. Sparkling water rushed by. The bed of grass beneath her feet was soft and deep, and the midnight-blue sky overhead was littered with stars. It was the perfect setting on the perfect night, and Luca was the perfect man. Reaching out, she linked their hands.
Luca soothed and seduced her with kisses, with touches, and with the expression in his eyes. She believed they were connecting on a deeper level. He made her want to know more about him, and for this to be the start of something, rather than the grand finale. His hands worked magic on her body. His strength seduced her, his scent seduced her...everything about Luca seduced her. He was a man of the earth, a man of the people, who worked with his body, his mind, and good humour, as well as unstinting loyalty towards his Prince, which he’d proved when he had refused to point him out to her.
This adventure might have its ups and downs, but Luca had featured large in every part of it. He made her spirit soar, and her body cry out for his touch.
They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. There was no chance she was going anywhere any time soon. She was a woman with needs and desires, who saw no reason for self-denial. She hadn’t prepared for this, but had taken the usual precautions, more in hope than expectation of a love life some time in the far distant future. She hadn’t planned anything, because placing trust in a man was a huge deal for Callie, but Luca was different. He made her feel safe. He made her believe she could trust him.
His mouth was warm and as persuasive as sin, and, though she was tentative at first, she soon matched his fire. He was more controlled. She was not. She was new to this, and had had no idea how the fire could take hold and consume her. Luca kept his touch tantalisingly light, far too light for her frustrated body. The urge to know every part of him intimately was clawing at her senses. ‘I want you,’ she said as she stared up into his eyes.
He knew she was suffering. Of course he knew. He was responsible for it. She was hardly playing hard to get, and Luca was available for pleasure. Tracing his magnificent torso over his insubstantial top tipped the balance from caution to action. ‘Take it off,’ she instructed, ‘and then the rest of your clothes.’
His eyes fired with interest and amusement. ‘You first,’ he countered. ‘Or at least, match me.’
And so the game began. It was a game with only one conclusion. Once started, it couldn’t be stopped. Without breaking eye contact, she began unbuttoning her blouse. She did so slowly, and felt heat rise between them. It was her turn to make him wait. Pushing the soft fabric from her shoulders, she let it drop.
He frowned. ‘You’re wearing a bra.’
‘I’d say you’re overdressed too,’ she murmured.
He smiled.
‘You should have drawn up your rules before this started,’ she teased, ‘because now you have to take off your flip-flops too.’
Maintaining eye contact as he kicked them off, she whispered, ‘And now your shorts.’
‘Are you sure about that?’
‘Absolutely sure.’ She would keep her eyeline level with his.
‘Take off your trainers,’ he suggested.
‘If that’s a ruse to give me chance to have second thoughts, save it. I won’t change my mind.’
‘I’ll take my chances.’ Luca’s stare was long and steady. ‘By the time I’ve finished, you won’t have a stitch of clothing on,’ he promised.
She shrugged, pretending indifference, but her heart was banging in her chest. ‘If you’d rather not?’
‘Oh, I’d rather,’ he said with a look that made her body flame with lust.
She toed off her trainers, wishing she’d dressed for the Arctic and had more clothes to remove. Luca was in serious danger of winning this game. How would such an experienced man judge her when he saw her naked? But it was exciting and fun, and every bit the adventure she’d dreamed about...the adventure she wouldn’t be telling the Browns about.
She should have known he’d go commando. He’d lowered his zipper and allowed his shorts to slide down his lean frame. Currently, they were hanging on his thighs. Reaching down, he pushed them the rest of the way and, stepping out of them, he stood in front of her, unconcerned. ‘You still have some way to go,’ he commented.
She would not look down. ‘My rules state—’ She gasped as Luca yanked her close.
‘Your rules count for nothing,’ he assured her in a seductive growl as he nuzzled his stubble-roughened face against her neck.
‘Oh—’ Breath shot from her lungs. She couldn’t help but rub her body against his in the hunt for more contact between them, but Luca held her firmly away.
‘Not so fast,’ he said, all control, while she was a gasping mass of arousal. ‘I can see I have some training to do.’
‘Please,’ she said, making his eyes flare with amusement.
‘Nice bra,’ he commented as he deftly removed it.
Now that was definitely going to give him the wrong idea. She’d chosen something frivolous for Italy. It had seemed such fun at the time. And safe. When she had been shopping in a brightly lit department store with not a single good-looking man around, the flimsy bra and thong had seemed harmless. The brand was quite exclusive, meant for show rather than practicality. Designer lingerie in bright pink silk chiffon bordered with palest aquamarine lace was hardly Callie’s usual choice. She was more of a sensible white cotton type. She could only imagine what Luca was thinking.
‘You’re beautiful,’ he murmured, reassuring and disarming her all in one breath.