The Secret Prince (10 page)

“Good, we'll hold down the fort until then and fine-tune my plan.”

He caught her looking at him, and there was a tenderness in her expression that took him by surprise. “What are you thinking?” he asked softly.

She reached out slowly, as if some inner spirit had possessed her and she was no longer in control of her actions. Her fingertips brushed the short hairs in front of his ear. “You'll make a wonderful father.”

He laughed, not understanding. “Huh?”

“You never stay angry, and you work out problems. Your children will feel secure, knowing you will be fair and not blame them for their mistakes. And they'll understand that you will always be there for them, to help them solve their problems. Pretty important dad stuff.”

His eyes latched onto hers. A woman who understood a man's need to be gentle, lenient, fair and protective of his children was rare indeed. But there was also his need to know her, completely. He wanted to touch her mind, understand the demons that stood in the way of her trusting him, and find a way to work around them. He ached to bring her peace.

Then somehow, all those charitable feelings took a sudden, unexpected twist, and he found himself over
come by a primitive male urge to seize her and make love to her despite her earlier rejections. He hated himself for feeling that way, for even considering taking her against her will. But the primal hunger was there beneath the civilized man, as it was in every male. The heat in his loins grew and a pounding in his head blocked out rational thought. The muscles in his arms ached, and even as he looked down at her he could feel what it would be like to seize her and possess her as he had in a thousand dreams.

The only thing that separates us from animals is our ability to choose not to act,
he reminded himself, fiercely holding back.

“What's wrong?” she asked, stepping closer to him and studying his expression with concern as her fingertips grazed his cheek. Her nightgown clung to her slim body, revealing too much, or not enough…he couldn't decide.

Had he spoken out loud? “Nothing,” he said, turning away from her. Then something made him change his mind. “Damn it, Elly, it
wasn't
nothing.”

He gripped her shoulders, and her still-raised hand dropped from his cheek to his chest as her mouth opened in surprise. “I've wanted you since the day we met. I've let you know how deeply you move me, how special I think you are. But you hold me at arm's length then turn me away. If you feel nothing for me, just say so. I won't bother you again.”

She stared up at him, her lower lip trembling. “Dan, please. You know it's not like that.”

“How is it then?” he demanded, fighting the impulse to throw her down on the bed. “You know I won't let you get pregnant if that's not what you want. Don't you trust me?”

“I do…” She began to sob as her eyes filled with tears. “Of course I trust you. I just. I
can't
…don't you see?” She couldn't get the words out for her gulping sobs.

“No, I don't see, obviously. Here is a man who wants the woman standing before him, and a woman who is so in need of a good man in her life she quivers when he comes too close.
We want the same thing, Elly!
”

“No! No, we don't!” She shook her head violently, trying to step away. But he held her firmly by the arms, not allowing her to retreat. “We've gone over this before. It's not just about now, this minute, this hour in our lives…it's about the future. I know what my limits are, and I've learned to accept them. I'll never be able to give you what you want, a child. Perhaps more than one. Let's not fool ourselves.” She stared up at him, her eyes shimmering pools. “Please. If I can be strong enough to walk away from you, feeling as close to you as I do right now, you can certainly be strong enough to
let
me walk away.”

With a lump in his throat he released her, but only to let her move two steps away from him before grabbing her hand and tugging her back to face him. He stepped up to within inches of her. “I'm not that strong.”

She shook her head, tears clinging to her lashes. “Oh, Dan.”

He cradled her against his chest. “Let's not try to map out our entire lives in one night. Life never turns out as we expect anyway, does it?”

She moved her head again, more softly, less frantically, her lips brushing the fabric of his shirt. “No, it doesn't.”

“So, Miss Anderson, tell me this…” He took a deep breath, risking all. “For the next few hours, do you think we could give each other what we most desire just
at this moment
and not think about the past or about some time years down the line?”

She didn't answer immediately, and a white-hot stab of fear shot through him. Then her whisper soothed him. “I'd like to try.”

His heart soared and, to his consternation, his body responded with energy. If she felt his hardness between them, she gave no indication, unless the slightly amused tilt of her smile was for that reason.

Dan slowly lowered his head and kissed her deeply, holding back none of his passion. Before, he'd never been sure that she felt as much for him as he felt for her. But now the commitment seemed equal. They were partners in an act of love, neither one aggressor or victim, seducer or seduced. They stood on even ground and that pleased him. Their pact made it possible for him to forget, for the time being, the family he might have to wait longer for or never have. And their agreement apparently made it possible for her to make love with him without guilt for depriving him of his dream or threatening her life.

They would keep each other safe and they would pleasure each other, and to hell with anything else.

Her lips opened willingly to his. As he moved his hands over her body he gave silent thanks for having picked up his wallet when he'd left his room an hour earlier. For there was the key to Elly, the condom he would willingly wear to reassure her that she was safe with him.

In fact there was more than one in there. Who knew what had possessed him to jam two long strips into the
thin leather tri-fold, but he'd been in a rush while packing and perhaps he'd had a momentary crazed vision of dark-eyed foreign women throwing themselves at him as he stepped off the plane in Paris, so there they were. He was just glad he had ample protection because he had a feeling they might need every one of them.

He pulled three foil packets from his wallet and placed them in clear view on the night table. Elly blushed as her eyes rested on them.

“You're beautiful when you're embarrassed,” he whispered. “Let's see if we can embarrass you some more.”

She looked up at him with a slightly dazed expression as he kissed her again and slipped the straps of her nightgown off her shoulders and down her arms. The garment slid from her body to the floor in a puddle of pale silk. She wore nothing beneath it and, although he'd known that would be so, the sight of her completely nude before him ripped the breath from his lungs. In the words of his city kids, she was awesome.

He sensed she had averted her eyes, and he lifted his gaze to her face and gently nudged her chin with his knuckles to make her look at him. “Don't be ashamed of what we're doing.”

“I'm not…I'm—” Her eyes blazed and her cheeks flushed a lovely dark color. “I feel freed, I feel wonderful.” She hesitated, looking suddenly shy again. “Do you suppose we could even up the odds a little?” Her eyes swept slowly down his shirt front to his pants.

He laughed, delighted with her. “Yes, ma'am.” He couldn't remember ever getting undressed quite as fast as he did that day. Within seconds he'd flung belt, pants, shirt, underclothes, shoes and socks into a heap.

He remembered thinking that first day they'd met on the beach that he'd have loved to have been swimming naked, just to see her expression. Now he received his reward for waiting. Her eyes were wide, glassy, and she kept passing the tip of her tongue over her lips as if they were parched by desert heat. Her hands clasped in front of her, and she tipped her head to one side, observing him critically, as if he were sculpture in a museum.

“So what's the verdict?” He stepped toward her.

“Not bad. Not bad at all.” A smile teased the corners of her lips.

“That's all I get? A not bad?” he growled then grabbed her.

They fell onto the bed and Elly could no longer keep up her smug act. Her heart was pounding in her breast. Every nerve in her body tingled with anticipation. For the first time in her life, she was with a man who was about to make love to her, and the dark side of life seemed miles away. She thought of nothing but opening her body to Dan.

She kept her eyes open when he kissed her. She didn't want to miss a thing, and the sight of Dan was glorious, for he was sleek and muscled, and every angle and curve of his body was pure masculine poetry. When he lifted one arm to curl it around her and bring her closer to his chest, the muscles in his shoulder and biceps bunched just as they had when he stroked through the ocean. When he moved her into his chest, she lifted a finger to trace the conformation that might have been carved by a master sculptor. She marveled at each pale blue vein, each tiny mole, each sinew that swelled across his wide chest.

“You are amazing,” she whispered. But when she
looked up, the cocky grin she imagined she'd find on his lips wasn't there. They were tightly pressed together as if he was concentrating on a matter of grave importance. And his eyes blazed. His gaze never seemed to move from her face, but she knew he was studying her entire body. The intensity made her shiver.

“Don't be afraid,” he said.

“I'm not. I'm just waiting.”

“Not for long.” Now he did smile, but it was as much a warning as a promise of pleasure. It said,
Hold on tight, woman, here we go.

He moved over her, supporting himself on one forearm while he caressed the soft swell of her hip. The muscles in her limbs grew rigid but in a most pleasant way. He smoothed his fingertips down the outside of her thigh then up the inside, toward the pulsing lips of her womanhood. Elly lifted herself to meet them, and he found her and pressed softly inward until she let out a little gasp of delight. His touch grew firmer, centering around her most sensitive area, circling, stroking, raising golden tongues of fire within her. Her head spun. Her limbs ached as she locked them against his body, and his fingers continued to work their magic.

She felt as if something snapped within her, something that was supposed to break—a bond, a chain tying her to the past. At a sudden rush of heat, she opened her mouth on a scream of ecstasy, but Dan cut it off with a plunging kiss. Delicious sensations burst through her with the brilliance of fireworks—dazzling, surprising her with their intensity. And all this from the mere touch of his hand.

Elly was aware of Dan shifting on the bed beside her, heard the sound of tearing foil and almost imme
diately he returned to her. She didn't have to look to know he had kept his promise. Nevertheless, he took her hand and gently guided it down along his body and folded her fingers around his sheathed shaft to reassure her.

“I know,” she whispered. “I know.”

He was over her now, sweeping her hair away from her face with both hands as he held his upper body over her on his elbows. Their hips pressed together. She felt the heaviness of his masculinity, the warm furriness of him against the tops of her thighs. Slowly she lifted her knees, parted herself and wrapped her legs around his hips to welcome him.

He only had to raise his own hips and move upward an inch to find her. Then with no effort at all, he entered her, filling her, it seemed, completely. The world hummed around her and her eyes closed on the blissful sensation of completion. As a woman, as a lover, as the giver of tenderness and passion that she had always longed to be.

But that blissful moment of peace lasted only seconds, for then Dan was moving within her, raising her with him to undreamed-of heights, cupping his palms beneath her bottom and lifting her hips to meet his thrusts as he delved deeper and deeper within her until she was sure there could be no more room for him. And Elly tightened around him, bursting with honeyed answer to his perfectly timed strokes, and she turned her face into the wiry fur of his chest and let out a smothered whimper of ecstasy that seemed to roll on forever.

At last Dan arched his body above hers, his eyes tightly shut, his face contorted in agonizing pleasure, as he pressed hard into her with a low groan of male
satisfaction. He fell in exhaustion upon her, and she wrapped herself around him, holding him within her for as long as the silvery forever of one morning allowed.

C
onversation around the breakfast table the following morning seemed distant and insignificant to Elly. Another day had passed but an invisible, golden thread still stretched between herself and Dan—and though no one in the dining room could see it, she knew it was there. A unique connection held her to the beautiful man who sat across the table from her.

Dan ate quickly, barely looking at her during the meal except for a single meaningful glance when no one else was looking. Then he excused himself and left the room. Shortly afterward, Elly bid her father, Madge, and Allison good bye for the rest of the day, saying she had work to finish and would spend the day at it, probably skipping lunch. Her father gave her a puzzled look but said nothing.

Elly was back in her room for only half an hour before Dan appeared, as she somehow knew he would.
The previous day, after they had parted, had been busy for both, and there had been no time when they could be alone.

Dan followed his own best advice: he focused on the moment. These precious few hours when Elly was his. If he just concentrated on the way she made him feel, he could forget about the mad twist of fate life had dealt him. Forget about the press and the public hysteria, which might do all sorts of damage to the Haven. Forget about how humiliating all of this was for his mother. Forget that each minute he held Elly might be their last together and certainly brought them closer to the time they must part.

He made love to her immediately on joining her in her room, then two more times during the long, lazy hours of the day in between conversations that covered everything from their childhoods to hopes for their careers, favorite colors, and most-beloved music, foods, and books. Then, at last, Elly looked up at him with smiling, misty eyes and said the abhorrent words, “We have to go down for dinner.”

“Can't we ring for room service?” he begged.

“This isn't a hotel. Besides, I think someone might suspect something. Particularly after our much-publicized romp in the lake.”

“Oh that.” He groaned then pulled her close and whispered softly into her ear. “When we're together, all the bad stuff goes away. Doesn't it?”

“Yes. All of it,” she murmured with a touch of amazement in her sweet voice.

His heart melted at the sincerity in her voice, for he knew the “bad stuff” for her had been very black indeed, the fear that had been her mother's unintended legacy to her. It seemed a miracle that she'd been able
to leave those fears behind, at last, to be with him and him alone. No one else had been able to give her that. He felt empowered, as if he'd been singled out to perform this special task in her life.

“Come on,” she said, leaving the bed to pull him to his feet. “Put some clothes on. With any luck, Jacob will have returned and you can explain your master plan to him.”

Dan frowned. “Do you think he'll even listen? He hasn't exactly been a loving and compassionate brother.”

She gave him a semi-severe look. “I haven't seen you falling over backward to please him either. There's definitely a family gene that leans toward stubbornness.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. Now, dress!”

 

Dan took his place at the heavy wooden trestle table across from Allison with her two children on either side of her. Jacob had indeed returned and was at the head of the table, with his family to his right. Dan sat to his left, then came Elly, then Madge, with Frank Anderson sitting across from her.

Although seated beside Dan, Elly felt as if he was miles from her after the intimacy of the day and the night before. She cast him a longing look but snapped her eyes down to her plate when she felt her father's curious gaze on her.

Allison made small talk, asking how Jacob's trip had gone and he responded with vague observations. He looked distracted, and Elly saw him glance more than once at Dan, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words. Dan shot his brother wor
ried looks, as if he too was searching for the right words. Tension slowly filled the room, like hot water being poured from a steaming pitcher.

Meanwhile a magnificent meal was being served. Each course was presented by Cook's competent kitchen staff. Elly was beginning to recognize them and learn their names. Rachel was very young, born in Elbia. She wore her hair in braids, looped up beneath a white cap. Friedrich was a tall, gaunt-looking man with gray hair and a stern demeanor that softened whenever his eyes came to rest on the little prince and princess. He had come from Vienna over thirty years ago to serve the von Austerand family. Maria was a dark, middle-aged Italian woman, chief assistant to Cook, who prepared many of the meals herself but insisted on overseeing the service to the family.

The other dining-room attendants rotated, according to the meal, but usually Elly recognized them. She studied a new man. He moved carefully about the room, ladling soup from a gilded porcelain tureen. Unlike the regulars, when he stood between two diners he served to the guest on his right then to the one on his left, rather than moving around the table to always serve toward the right as, she'd noticed, was convention. She glanced at Maria to see if she'd caught the minor slip in protocol, but she was turning back toward the kitchen.

It seemed an unimportant detail to Elly, yet something about the man felt not quite right to her. She turned toward Dan and found his gaze steadily on her. Frowning, she slid her eyes in the direction of the server, then gave Dan a questioning quirk of one eyebrow.

He followed her line of sight, watched the man for a moment, then shrugged.

He was right, it was probably nothing, she told herself. A hurried replacement by an inexperienced waiter. She turned her attention back to the conversation at the table.

Cray was babbling happily about his day's activities, everything from his adventures with learning to talk on the telephone to telling his father, the king, about his finger-painting exploits. “It was gooey and slippery, and all over the paper and table and floor and me!” he cried with delight. “Green and red and blue
everywhere!
” He waved his hands in the air to demonstrate the degree of delightful messiness he'd created. Everyone one at the table congratulated Cray on his artistic efforts.

As his mother was inviting all guests to come to the nursery for a viewing of his first exhibition, a motion just barely caught the corner of Elly's eye. She turned her head to follow it.

The new server stood beside the tall mahogany buffet along one side of the room, across from the little prince and princess. As Elly watched, he turned as though to shield something in his hand from view, and she heard a soft click.

Her breath caught in her throat.
What was he doing? What was he holding that he didn't want anyone to see?

She reached out to touch Dan on the shoulder, but apparently he'd also been watching the man. Dan shot to his feet, knocking his chair backward with a crash to the floor. To the other guests' amazement, he launched himself across the room and, before the server
could react, Dan had tackled the man and pinned him to the floor.

“Call your security!” he bellowed at Jacob.

The king didn't need to say a word. Three burly guards appeared within seconds in the dining room. Elly suspected cameras hidden somewhere in the room had caught the struggle.

There was pandemonium as Jacob jumped to his feet, Cray shouted out questions, Kristina started to cry and Frank Anderson glared in confusion at Dan as if he'd committed an act of terrorism. Elly could only stand by until things sorted themselves out.

Two of the guards relieved Dan of his prisoner while a third smoothly placed his body between the intruder and the royal family. Jacob, she'd noticed, had instinctively moved in front of Allison and the children, as if to shield them.

One of the guards removed a small, black object from inside the folds of the intruder's white smock.

“Is that a gun?” Madge gasped.

The guard held a miniature camera up for Jacob to see.

“I'm a respected member of the press!” the man shouted in English. An American, Elly thought with a sinking feeling in her stomach. This isn't good. “We have freedom of speech in my country—and that's personal property!”

Dan stood close by, glaring at the man. “You don't have the right to break into a man's home or terrorize his family, you idiot!”

But the guards were already dragging the man through a door and, in another minute, a shocked silence hung over those remaining in the dining room.

“Oh my,” Madge breathed, pressing a hand to her heart.

“Are you all right?” Elly asked.

“Yes, I'm fine. It's the little ones I'm worried about.” She looked at Cray and Kristina, the prince clinging to his mother's skirt, the baby in her arms.

“It's all right now,” Allison said to her children comfortingly. “The stranger is gone now. I think we need some quiet time.” She looked meaningfully at Jacob. He nodded. “Let's go have a story in your nursery. We'll ask Cook very nicely to bring our dessert to us there, for a special treat.” The third guard automatically accompanied the queen and her children out of the dining room.

“I think I'll go to my room too,” Madge murmured, looking shaken despite her denial. “I have a headache.”

“That was quite a shock,” Elly said. “You should rest for a while. Do you feel steady enough on your feet?”

“I'll manage,” she said, but her smile seemed wobbly.

“I'll walk her back to her room,” Frank said quickly, giving Dan a reassuring look.

Elly, Dan and Jacob were the only ones left in the room along with the disarray of a half-finished meal. Dan righted his chair. No one spoke for a long while, then it was Jacob who finally sat down heavily at the head of the table and looked up at the two Americans.

“That shouldn't have happened.” He sighed. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Dan asked simply. “It was just another reporter with a camera.”

“It might have been something else.” Jacob gave
his brother a long, grim look. “If that had been a gun, the guards would have spotted it and come in, but in the few extra seconds he could have gotten off a shot.”

“Elly saw him first but I was closest to him. No big deal.”

“But you put your life in jeopardy for my family,” Jacob insisted. “For all you knew he could have shot or stabbed you to get to me, or to my wife and babies. You didn't hesitate. I will never forget this. Never.” He stared hard at Dan with an electric intensity that crackled around them.

Elly could feel the testosterone level in the room rise. This was male bonding at its best. She would have smiled if the circumstances had been different. “What will happen to the man?” she asked.

Jacob shrugged. “Not much. We'll hold him for a few days, put the fear of God in him. His newspaper will protest. The U.S. Embassy will appeal to us. Then we'll allow your government officials to escort him out of the country.” He gave her a funny look. “Did you expect me to lock him away in the dungeon for eternity?”

She laughed. “Something like that, I suppose. Your Highness—” she hesitated “—this has to stop.”

“Yes,” he agreed. He looked at Dan. “I respect your reasons for not wanting to release your claim to my father's name…
our
father's name. And I understand why you won't accept a financial settlement. In your shoes, I would feel much the same way.” Maria stepped gingerly into the room, but Jacob waved her off. “That leaves us in an awkward situation, though. I don't know what to do now.”

“I have an idea,” Dan said, slowly lowering himself
into the chair nearest Jacob's. “I thought of it yesterday and wanted to talk to you then, but you weren't here.”

Jacob nodded. “Go on.”

Elly crossed her fingers for Dan. Jacob was listening with guarded interest, but there was no guarantee he'd agree to Dan's strategy.

“Maybe we've been going at this all wrong,” Dan started. “By trying to hide the truth and giving the press no facts at all, we've only made them more intrigued with the possibilities. They smell scandal and won't let up until the story seems no longer interesting to them. As long as we remain silent, they'll invent new and provocative stories to suit their readers' curiosity.”

“Let me understand this…you think we should find a way to
bore
them?” Jacob gave a weary smile. “Difficult to do, brother, for people like us. We announce a vacation to Australia, and it becomes a mission of political importance. When Allison purchased a new bed for Cray, half the mothers in Europe bought the same brand for their toddlers.”

“Not bore them…
defuse
them. Call a press conference, make it open to anyone. We'll issue a joint statement saying that you and I are in complete accord. I'm thrilled to have found my father's family, and you're overjoyed to have located your long-lost brother.”

Jacob rolled his eyes. “Laying it on a little thick, aren't we?”

Dan shrugged. “We have to put a positive spin on this. I'll accept the monetary settlement, but it will be on behalf of my mother, for her future care, and for my City Kids program. That portion will be used to build and support a year-round camp for kids at risk
who need to be pulled off the street and given a safe place to be for a while.”

Jacob looked interested. “And what about the throne? You are older than I by several months. By rights, even though my father and your mother weren't married, you are the first heir.”

Dan shook his head. “I wouldn't want your job for anything, bro'.”

Elly smiled at the slang, which also brought a wry twitch to Jacob's lips.

“There are some definite advantages,” Jacob said, lifting a hand to indicate the grandeur of this single room among the hundreds of richly appointed rooms in the castle.