The Irresistible Royal Read online

  He was the cause of the problem so he could damned well provide the solution.

  ‘Marco’s here,’ Maria called out.

  Yes. Time to put her plan into action.

  ‘I’ll be another ten minutes or so. Can you ask him to come through please, Maria?’

  Hopefully the bodyguards wouldn’t have reported her every movement to him today and he’d have no idea she’d left the vineyard for a quick shopping expedition. The shopping trip to a maternity boutique had provided exactly what she’d wanted and she was now in a very feminine blue dress. The hemline was short, revealing the legs she believed were her best assets. The neckline was scooped lower than usual, and provided a tantalising peek at the start of her deepening cleavage, while the material itself outlined her fuller breasts.

  He told her he still desired her. As he’d driven her home last night from the Old Mill restaurant, she’d reached across and let her hand rest on his thigh. Her action had met with the desired reaction, his erection impossible to miss as it strained against the fabric of his trousers. But he’d said nothing. Done nothing. She’d ended up being the one who needed the cold shower.

  Given the extreme degree of sexual awareness pulsing between them, Chloe couldn’t credit his point-blank refusal to take her to bed. For the last three nights they’d been in hot and heavy embraces. Every time Marco had pulled away, leaving her incredibly frustrated and irritated.

  ‘You want to know our relationship can last, tesoro. I want to prove it to you. I want you to acknowledge we can be compatible together in every way—even without giving in to our physical desires.’

  ‘What are you, a sadist?’ she’d flung at him last night when they’d arrived back at her place after their very romantic dinner. He’d been genuinely amused at her obvious frustration as she’d continued to rant at him. ‘You had sex with me the first night we met. You told me how incredible it was for you. Now you’re refusing?’

  ‘Make no mistake, Chloe. I want you. Badly. But I’m not a man who’s going to dance to your tune.’

  ‘What are you saying? That you won’t dance with me unless the tune is Here Comes the Bride?’

  ‘Si.’

  ‘You can’t be serious. That’s so unfair. Besides, if we were to be married, we’d need to be sexually compatible and I need more than one night’s experience with you to believe it.’

  He’d laughed. ‘You definitely found the right career. You’re exceedingly good at arguing your case.’ Then he’d pulled her into his arms and kissed her so thoroughly she was mindless to all but her need for him. ‘You know very well we’re explosively sexually compatible, Chloe,’ he’d whispered close to the delicate shell of her ear, as his teeth nibbled erotically at it. ‘There’s so much more we can share together—so many more different ways we can make love.’ His lips had moved to kiss along her jawline and down her neck. Kisses punctuated his words as he told her, ‘I—can’t wait—to—experience—every single—one—of them—with you.’

  ‘Damn you, Marco. You don’t have to wait.’

  Amusement lit his eyes as he’d pulled away from her and admonished, ‘I’m glad you don’t want me for my money or my royal title, but I’m not happy to learn you only want me for sex.’

  ‘I wanted you for sex from the very start, the same way you wanted it from me. I didn’t hear you objecting then.’

  ‘Your body wasn’t nurturing my child then.’ He’d closed his eyes briefly and rubbed his palms over her tummy. ‘Back then, I wasn’t proposing marriage to you and contemplating we’d have a whole lifetime together. Now the stakes are much, much higher—the forever kind.’

  A whole lifetime. The idea was starting to have increasing appeal. But it was so at odds with the marriage she’d always visualised; she was still having a little trouble letting go of her long-held ideal.

  Besides, while Marco was proving he had no trouble easing himself into her lifestyle, it was just that—her lifestyle. He’d walked away temporarily from his own, but—if they married—there’d be some point in the future where he’d insist she join him. That was a whole other ball game.

  Looking up at him as he came into the room that served as her father’s study, her heart stuttered. God, but he was divinely handsome. His suits were always well cut and emphasised the powerful physique she knew lay underneath the fabric, but tonight he was more casually dressed in a green shirt without a tie, a pair of black chinos and a black sports coat.

  ‘Still working, tesoro?’

  She took great satisfaction as his eyes dipped to her cleavage and his steps faltered.

  ‘Hi,’ she said innocently, but leaned forward a fraction on the pretext of reaching for a different pen, to afford him a better view. ‘I like your shirt. It almost matches your eyes. Have I mentioned the colour of your eyes?’ she flirted. ‘They’re incredibly green.’

  He reached her side, pushed her chair out on its rollers away from her desk and swivelled it around so she faced him. Leaning down, he murmured near her ear, ‘Once or twice.’

  Her mouth dried as she breathed in the scent of his cologne. It always wrapped around her senses and made her want to melt against him.

  ‘And I believe I’ve likened yours to the Mediterranean Sea.’ He moved to brush his lips across hers. ‘Mm. Have you been eating strawberries?’

  She put her hands up on his shoulders. ‘Yes.’ It was impossible to stop herself from pulling him down to deepen the kiss. ‘Do they taste good?’

  ‘Delicious,’ he murmured into her mouth before sweeping his tongue tip along her lower lip to capture more of the flavour. ‘A decided improvement on the pickled herrings you craved at the beginning of the week.’

  She laughed.

  He took advantage of her mouth being wide open and kissed her deeply. Slowly. Endlessly. Chloe revelled in the kiss and wanted it to go on and on.

  As usual, Marco was the one who brought it to a halt.

  ‘Hungry?’ she asked him with a saucy smile. ‘We could always eat in.’

  ‘Tease,’ he growled, his voice a little deeper than normal. ‘How was your first day of working from home?’

  ‘Surprisingly, I’m enjoying the change of pace and not having endless interruptions.’

  He sat down on the edge of the desk again and she couldn’t get used to the way his height dwarfed her.

  ‘Oops.’ She deliberately dropped her pen onto the floor, knowing he’d retrieve it for her, and that when he did, he’d get a very good close-up look at her legs.

  The amusement in his eyes told her he knew exactly what she was doing. ‘I should let you get that yourself, you little tease.’

  ‘Where would be the fun in that?’

  He shook his head and smiled broadly.

  Wham.

  Every time.

  Every single time he smiled at her, her heart did a dizzying somersault in her chest.

  In one lithe movement, he was down at her feet, his hands running up and down over her calves. ‘I like your dress, cara. Did you buy it today on your shopping trip?’

  Irritation pricked through her. ‘Do my shadows report my every movement to you?’

  ‘They told me you’d been out and there’d been no trouble.’ He stood and handed her the pen. ‘I like to know you’re safe, bella. Don’t frown. It makes you look bad-tempered.’

  ‘I’m hellishly bad-tempered after not sleeping well all week and you know why.’ She arched an eyebrow at him in challenge. ‘What are you going to do about it?’

  ‘Hold out on you until you give me the answer I want to hear.’ Laughing at the face she pulled, he pointed to the computer. ‘Turn that off and let’s go.’

  ‘Yes, master.’

  ‘Ha. If only.’ He reached forward to brush a stray tendril of hair away from close to her eye.

  Unable to suppress a smile she knew stemmed from pure mischief, she turned off the computer and took his hand as they left for dinner. She was determined to eat every bit of her food from her fork or sp
oon as though it were a sensual feast, and was going to be trailing her tongue tip over her lips and making little moans of pleasure as she sampled each course. All in all, she wanted Marco worked up into an absolute frenzy by the time they’d finished their meal.

  Chloe congratulated herself as she watched Marco shift uncomfortably in his chair as they ate dessert and she used her tongue tip and slowly licked all the chocolate from a strawberry.

  When they were merely a block from the restaurant on their way home, she said in an innocent tone, ‘You want the best for our baby, don’t you, Marco?’

  ‘You know I do.’

  ‘You also know that what’s good for my health will translate to positive health for our baby?’

  His lips twitched and it appeared to be a bit of a struggle, but he managed to keep the smile from his face. ‘Do I dare to ask where this is going?’

  ‘I was reading today how pregnancy hormones increase a woman’s libido.’

  Marco groaned before he warned, ‘Chloe, don’t go there.’

  ‘Listen to this.’ She produced her smartphone and read from the internet, ‘Orgasms are more frequent and more intense than ever before during pregnancy because of breasts becoming larger and more sensitive. There’s also increased sensitivity down below due to increased blood flow to that area. Quote, unquote.’ Was it her imagination or was Marco driving a little faster? She smothered a smile and hoped to hell he was getting as hot under the hood as the car engine. ‘So, by not having sex with me, not only am I becoming physically frustrated—which might end up stressing out our baby—but you could be depriving me of the best orgasms I could have in my entire life.’

  She watched as Marco’s hands tightened on the steering wheel.

  ‘Now, obviously you don’t get the significance,’ she continued, ‘but given I’m a woman, and I’ve read that a lot of women actually never get to experience an orgasm at all—’

  ‘You’re not one of those women, Chloe.’ His throat worked up and down as he swallowed and his voice was hoarse as he continued, ‘You came at least three times when we were together, from three different types of stimulation, and you came in spectacular fashion.’

  ‘Really? It was so long ago...’

  He laughed richly. ‘You won’t convince me your memory is suffering so badly from these pregnancy hormones, cara.’

  ‘But if I don’t have sex now,’ she complained, ‘I’ll never know whether this is a prime time for me or not. I hardly think it’s fair I should miss out on sex when all I’m reading suggests irrefutably that this is peak time.’ She waved a hand matter-of-factly. ‘Of course, if it’s that you don’t find me appealing because my waistline has vanished, I guess I could find someone else who—’ She’d been so busy with her argument, she hadn’t realised he’d altered their route and was now in the driveway of his condominium building, waiting for the security door to open to the car parking area. ‘Your place?’ she asked with a satisfied smile.

  ‘You’d try the restraint of a saint, Chloe, and I’m no saint.’ As soon as the security door rolled up fully, he drove in. Pulling the car to a halt, he opened his door and made his way around to her door before she could even blink.

  In a flash, her buckle was unbelted. He raised her out of the car and plastered her back against the side of the vehicle while her front plastered against him. His kisses were full of raw, primitive need, and she exalted knowing she’d driven him to this loss of control.

  Her hips wiggled as he smoothed his hands down over them. The unyieldingly hard press of his arousal indented against her abdomen.

  ‘I find you incredibly sexy and appealing and the knowledge of your waistline vanishing because you’re nurturing my child makes you even sexier,’ he told her as soon as he’d sucked in enough breath between kisses to speak coherently. ‘You will never think of finding someone else to bring you sexual satisfaction.’

  Then he locked the car, swept her up into his arms and carried her up the steps and into his home effortlessly, despite the fact she was carrying all those extra pounds.

  Chloe rejoiced in her victory all too early. Oh, he carried her into his bedroom, placed her gently onto the bed, removed every stitch of her clothing and caressed her pregnancy bump with reverence. But instead of joining his powerful body with hers, he commenced the most pleasurable form of torture.

  He touched her excruciatingly sensitive nipples with barely there caresses of his fingertips, arousing her to unbearable levels of need before he brought her to a climax by laving each rosy bud with his tongue and drawing each of her peaking nubs into his mouth to suckle. The internet article was right. Her climax was excruciatingly sweet.

  The night was one endless orgasm after another as he used his expert mouth, his knowing hands and clever fingers all over her body, thrilling her and reminding her of how much pleasure her body could know. But still he withheld what she wanted most of all, refusing her attempts to tug his shirt from the waistband of his trousers so she could touch the smooth, muscular flesh of his back. He denied her the pleasure of undressing him, of feeling his flesh, and of having him possess her completely. She wanted him thrusting into her and joining his body with hers but he wouldn’t capitulate to her demands. He remained fully clothed until he stripped to his boxer shorts as the sun rose.

  ‘Never let it be said I placed you or our baby at any risk from foetal distress,’ he told her as the first rays of light were penetrating through the Venetian blinds, which covered her bedroom window.

  Drifting off into a thoroughly exhausted sleep, she wondered vaguely how it could be possible to know such physical completion and continue to feel frustrated. But she did. There was still an ache deep within her, wanting his total possession, and her body’s satiation was a stark contrast to the hollow, needy ache of her soul as she craved his love.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Marco watched Chloe sleeping and his heart swelled with profound emotion.

  This feisty American woman couldn’t deny her own physical need for him but continued to refuse to be his wife. He understood she was afraid of committing to him because her own parents’ marriage had been unhappy. Part of him also suspected she stubbornly declined his proposal because she still wanted to prove she wasn’t interested in his money or the wealthy lifestyle he could offer her. While he admired her lack of avarice, it frustrated him. His patience wore thin because the whole situation was too damned unsettling.

  She stirred against him and her lips settled into a satisfied smile as her eyelids opened. ‘Hi.’

  ‘Hi.’ He lowered his head to brush a kiss over her mouth, and his hand rested at her hips for a moment before he soothed his palm over her stomach.

  ‘So I wasn’t having incredible dreams last night.’ She continued to smile up at him but a tinge of faint colour spread along her cheekbones as she confessed, ‘I often dream about you.’

  ‘There’s no need to when your dreams can be a reality.’ He took her left hand and lifted it up. ‘I dream you’re wearing both my rings on this finger. I dream about losing myself in your body each night and waking up with you every morning—of being part of your day, sharing your laughter, shouldering your concerns. I want to be with you to make sure you end each day with a contented sigh and greet every day with a smile because you’re happy we’ll share the day together.’

  Her eyes glistened and she swallowed hard. ‘When did you get to be so romantic?’

  ‘Didn’t I tell you I’ve been doing a course by correspondence?’ He winked at her. ‘How to woo your lover 101.’

  Chloe laughed a little before she grew serious. ‘I’ve loved this time we’ve spent together, Marco, and I’ve been happy. But things are going to change between us when the baby comes.’

  ‘They can change for the better.’ He kissed the tips of each of the fingers of her left hand as he continued to hold it. ‘I believe we were meant to find each other, and the addition of our child to our relationship will only make it richer.’

>   ‘If that’s true, there’s no rush. Let’s see how we both feel once the baby is born.’

  ‘Need I remind you of the necessity for us to be married and for our child to be Ralvinian?’

  ‘No. It’s weighing heavily on me and I understand that while I don’t want to be a princess, it’d be wrong of me to deny the birthright to our child. I realise I’m going to have to make a decision sooner rather than later.’

  ‘You expect me to fail. You still worry I’ll be like your mother, grow bored with domesticity and walk out on you and the baby, don’t you?’

  She levered herself up awkwardly to sit and face him, hitching the sheet up to cover her nakedness. ‘You’ve lived a glamorous life, far removed from being saddled with a wife and child.’

  He stood up from the bed and paced back and forth a little to release some of the restless energy borne of both sexual and emotional frustration. ‘I don’t see marriage to you as being saddled. I want you to be my wife.’

  The tears glistening in her eyes spilt over her lower eyelids and left wet trails against each cheek. ‘Please, Marco. Take this one day at a time.’

  ‘I have been. Christo, Chloe. Is it so impossible for you to take a leap of faith and trust me?’

  She hung her head and her face was concealed by the curtain of her hair. Her posture was one of abject misery and regret and guilt twisted his guts. ‘It’s only been a week since you flew into Napa for the first time and accepted I was pregnant with your child!’

  ‘Dio. I’m sorry.’ He swore as he sat down next to her on the bed and pulled her into his arms. ‘I care so deeply about you, Chloe, and patience has never been one of my virtues.’

  Relief washed over him as she reached up and put her arms around his neck and snuggled more closely against him instead of pushing him away.