A Royal Vow of Convenience Read online

  Briefly, he closed his eyes. Almost as tight as the first time. And she’d started saying things in Greek as she came. Soft things. Things he didn’t understand but which instinctively made him wary—because when a woman starting talking in that tone of voice it usually meant trouble. He hoped her inexperience didn’t mean she’d started to misinterpret the impact of a powerful series of orgasms. He hoped he wasn’t going to have to make it clear that it was a waste of time for her to develop feelings for him.

  Pushing back the rumpled bedcovers, he got out of bed and walked over to the window, blinking a little at the starkness of the tableau outside. He spent so little time in England these days that he’d forgotten how beautiful the countryside could look in thick snow. For a moment he stood, transfixed by a landscape which was almost unrecognisable—the long drive and other familiar landmarks obliterated by a thick blanket of white. It must have been coming down all night long—and it was still snowing, great flakes of the stuff hurtling down from the sky. It was the kind of white-out you usually only found in a ski resort and Rafe’s eyes narrowed as he took in the heavy clouds overhead. It wasn’t the best day for a christening, not by any stretch of the imagination.

  Sophie hadn’t returned by the time he’d showered and dressed and it was after ten when he headed downstairs, where he could hear the sound of voices coming from the direction of the dining room. He walked along the long corridor, unprepared for the sight which greeted him.

  Because it was Sophie who was the centre of attention—and not because she was behaving in a princessy kind of way. On the contrary. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor right next to another big glittering Christmas tree, and she was playing with his nephew. Against the sparkle of tinsel and the gleam of fairy lights, she lifted the baby high in the air before bringing him down towards her, rubbing her nose against his tummy and making him gurgle with delight as she made a squelchy sound. And sitting watching them, with an overwhelming look of pride on her face, was the baby’s mother, Molly.

  Rafe wasn’t expecting the painful shaft of ice which speared its way through his heart as he stood watching her play with the baby—he was outside the charmed circle but had no desire to enter it. But maybe his breathing had altered fractionally or maybe he moved, because both women turned round and saw him. He saw the uncertainty which crossed Sophie’s face as she lowered the baby to rest against her shoulder, but her uncertainty was quickly forgotten as she fielded the playful swipe of a chubby fist as the baby urged her to play on.

  ‘Rafe!’ said Molly, getting to her feet and coming towards him with open arms and a wide smile on her face. ‘Here you are. Awake at last! How lovely to see you. And Sophie seems to have made a huge fan of Oliver as you can see for yourself.’ She tilted her head. ‘But you really are naughty—why didn’t you tell us who you were bringing?’

  Rafe felt his body grow tense, but he kept his smile bland. ‘Because Sophie prefers to keep her status low-key, don’t you, Sophie?’ He sent her a mocking glance as he gave his sister-in-law a hug. ‘And besides, I can see she’s made herself perfectly at home. She has a knack of doing that. Where’s Nick?’

  ‘Gone to speak to the vicar and to investigate how bad the roads are. Nobody else has arrived and they’re all supposed to be here soon.’ Molly scooped the baby from Sophie’s arms. ‘Here, let me take him and put him down for a quick nap before all the fun starts. You’ve been brilliant with him, Sophie—thanks.’

  ‘You’re welcome,’ said Sophie. ‘He’s absolutely gorgeous.’

  ‘I know he is—although I’m heavily biased, of course!’ Molly gave a wide smile. ‘I must say, it makes a nice change to meet one of Rafe’s girlfriends—we only ever get to read about them in the papers.’

  But Sophie became aware of the silence which fell like an axe between them the instant Molly carried the baby from the room. She met the silvery glint of Rafe’s shadowed gaze, wondering if she was imagining the unspoken undercurrents which suddenly made the atmosphere seem so hostile.

  ‘I like your sister-in-law,’ she said.

  ‘I’m sure she’d be delighted to have the royal seal of approval.’ His voice grew rough. ‘But you didn’t think it might be wise to wait for me before coming down to breakfast?’

  From the way he was glowering at her, Sophie felt as if she were in the dock. Yes, she probably should have waited so they could come down to breakfast together, but she’d needed to get away from him this morning. Needed to get her head straight and her senses back to something like normality. She’d been terrified of being caught staring dreamily at him when he opened his eyes, which had been what she’d wanted to do. She’d wanted to stare at him and stroke her fingertips over his skin and never stop, because what had happened during the night had thrilled and scared her in equal measure. The sex had been...

  She swallowed. It had been unbelievable. Different from the first time and from the time on the plane. She hadn’t known it could be like that. So dreamy. So close. Just as it was supposed to be...as if two people really had become one.

  She remembered his arms wrapping around her and how unbearably excited she’d felt as he’d pulled her close. His kisses had been barely there at first—his mouth grazing over hers as if he had all the time in the world. As if he were exploring her in slow motion and bringing her to life—cell by delicious cell. And when at last he’d entered her, his penetration had been deep. So deep that she had gasped and murmured his name. But she’d murmured a lot of other stuff too, after he’d brought her to that seemingly endless orgasm which had left her feeling blindsided. Things she hadn’t been planning to say but which had suddenly seemed to spring from her lips. Did he understand Greek? She sincerely hoped not. Or perhaps he did. Perhaps he’d guessed she’d been murmuring sweet nothings and that was why he was glaring at her in that accusatory way.

  ‘I thought it might be easier if I introduced myself, rather than you having to explain it. Get the whole Princess thing out of the way.’ She shrugged. ‘I have to say that both Molly and your brother took it very much in their stride. And besides,’ she added, when his expression still showed no sign of softening, ‘I didn’t want to disturb you. You were sleeping like a baby.’

  ‘Really?’ Dark brows arched upwards. ‘You seem obsessed by babies.’

  ‘I was playing with your nephew, Rafe,’ she said, from between gritted teeth. ‘That’s what people do when they meet a baby for the first time. What am I supposed to have done which is so wrong?’

  ‘Did you tell them why you were here?’

  ‘Yes. I explained I was hiding from the press and you were helping me. Was that the right thing to say—or the wrong thing? Should I have run a list of correct responses before you? Perhaps you could have written me a few guidelines.’

  But he was saved from having to answer by the return of Nick, his half-brother—who was brushing stray flakes of snow away from his face and hair.

  Tall as Rafe and almost as eye-catching, Nick Carter had the same black hair and sculpted features as his brother. Sophie watched as the two men greeted each other.

  ‘How are the roads?’ Rafe asked.

  ‘What roads? It’s like a wasteland out there,’ said Nick grimly. ‘And I’ve just heard they’ve closed all the major airports.’

  ‘You’re kidding?’

  ‘I wish I was. I haven’t dared break the news to Molly.’

  ‘Can’t you postpone the service?’

  ‘At this time of year? With non-stop carol services and a vicar who’s run ragged?’ Nick pulled a face. ‘Fat chance. Which means most people aren’t going to be able to get here in time. Just Dad and whoever his current squeeze is.’

  ‘And Sharla, of course,’ said Rafe, after a barely perceptible beat. ‘She’s coming by helicopter.’

  Something in his tone alerted Sophie’s senses again. Something which had started t
roubling her last night though she couldn’t for the life of her work out what it was. What wasn’t he telling her? What was it about Sharla which was making him so edgy? Or was she simply in danger of reading too much into a casual conversation because she wasn’t used to being inside a private home like this? Sharla was probably as lovely as her twin sister—and Molly was a complete delight.

  So she sat and chatted as Rafe ate buttered eggs and he and Nick drank their way through a pot of strong black coffee. And when Nick said he was going to speak to Molly, Rafe suggested to her that they go back upstairs. Sophie nodded, but her emotions were all over the place. He’d been very cool with her and she needed to remember that. To remind herself that he could be cold and curt, and it was only during sex that he seemed to show any emotion. But they weren’t real emotions. She needed to remember that, too. Even she, with her laughable lack of experience, could work that one out.

  Back in their room the bed had been made and a fresh fire lit in the grate. Someone had put a huge spray of seasonal holly in a jug on one of the window ledges—its spiky green leaves and scarlet berries contrasting with the dramatic whiteness of the snow outside. It looked beautiful, almost tranquil, but tranquil was the last thing Sophie was feeling as Rafe closed the door. She went straight over to the dressing table, sat down in front of the mirror and started to unpin her hair.

  In the reflection of the glass, she saw him frown—as if her reaction wasn’t what he’d been anticipating. He walked across the room and put his hands on her shoulders, starting to caress them in a way which instantly made her want to melt, but she forced herself to wriggle away.

  ‘Don’t,’ she said.

  ‘Really?’

  She supposed it was an indication of his arrogance that the note of surprise in his voice sounded genuine. ‘Yes, really.’ Meeting his gaze in the mirror, she picked up the brush and began to attack her hair.

  ‘You’re bored with sex already?’

  She gave a short laugh. ‘Don’t be disingenuous, Rafe. I’m sure there isn’t a woman alive who wouldn’t find you physically attractive but my emotions aren’t something you can turn on and off, like a tap.’

  ‘Why bring emotion into it?’ he questioned carelessly.

  ‘Well, what about simple manners, then?’ She put the brush down and turned on him. ‘You were cold and accusatory towards me downstairs, yet the minute we get back to the bedroom I’m supposed to fall straight into your arms?’

  He seemed taken aback by her frankness. ‘You seemed to be getting very cosy with my family.’

  ‘So? Would you have preferred it if I’d been aloof? Don’t you realise that’s what people expect me to be? It was actually lovely to meet people who treated me normally. People I didn’t have to put at ease, the way I usually do. Who didn’t seem to care that I was a princess. What’s your problem with that?’

  ‘I just don’t want them getting any false ideas about our relationship,’ he growled.

  ‘Oh, I wouldn’t worry your head about that.’ She gave a short laugh. ‘I’m sure your attitude towards me will be enough to convince them that we have no lasting future. It’s just a pity you’re managing to ruin the present in the process. Great way to live your life.’

  For a moment he stilled, as if he was going to object to her making such a personal comment, but he didn’t. Instead his eyes narrowed. ‘Is that what I’m doing?’

  ‘Yes.’ She could hear the powerful pounding of her heart as it slammed against her ribcage and knew she couldn’t keep avoiding the question she was burning to ask. ‘Tell me, do you and Sharla have some kind of history?’

  There was a fraction of a pause.

  ‘What makes you say that?’

  ‘It was a simple question, Rafe. A yes or a no will do.’

  Rafe heard the persistence in her voice as he looked into her luminous blue eyes. At those rosy lips, which were plump and parted. He could lie to her—of course he could. She’d told a few lies herself, hadn’t she—so what would a few more matter? Except that their conversation on the plane had made him understand why she’d been so reluctant to reveal her identity. Even why her virginity had become a millstone around her neck—something which had been saved for a man who had ultimately chosen someone else. Maybe there had been some justification for those lies she had woven, but the same could not reasonably be said of him if he chose not to answer her question directly.

  And surely he could give her the bare facts. He didn’t have to give her chapter and verse.

  ‘We were an item a long time ago.’ He drew in a deep breath. ‘Over a decade ago, in fact, and it lasted less than a year.’

  ‘And did you—?’

  ‘No, Sophie,’ he said, because he was discovering that some things could still hurt, no matter how deeply you buried them. That when you pulled them to the surface they could still seep like a dark stain over your skin. Still make you want to smash a frustrated fist against the nearest wall. ‘That was a lot more than the yes or no you initially demanded and it’s all you’re going to get.’

  He saw confusion on her face along with a softness which affected him even though he didn’t want it to. And although he knew he should resist touching her when she was trying to unpick him like this, something made him override his instincts. Was it comfort he sought, or oblivion? Reaching out, he pulled her to her feet and brought her up close against his body, his hands cupping her buttocks so that she could feel the hardness of his erection. And she did. He could tell from the sudden dilation of her eyes and he half expected her to object as he bent his head to kiss her. To pull away and demand to know more about Sharla, because curiosity was part of human nature and women were far more curious than men.

  But she didn’t. Was she intuitive enough to guess that right then he needed her kiss, in the way a starving man needed food? Was that why her lips parted, as if silently begging him to crush them with his own? And why, when he did, she kissed him back with a hunger which matched his, as if realising that in this, at least, they were properly equal? His tongue laced with hers and he could feel the urgent rush of blood to his groin as he skated his palm down over her hips. ‘Sophie—’

  ‘Shh,’ she said urgently, pushing her breasts hard into his chest, her breath hot against his. ‘Just do it.’

  The unexpected earthiness of her response only fuelled his spiralling hunger and Rafe tugged the cardigan over her head, not bothering with the tiny buttons. Granted access to the silky camisole beneath, he rubbed his palm over her hardening nipple and felt her shiver as she began tugging urgently at his belt. His mouth dried. She might be a novice, but she certainly wasn’t shy. He liked the murmuring sound of approval she gave as she tugged down the zip of his jeans and wrapped her hand around his rock-hard shaft. But when she started to slide her fingers up and down, he gave a swift shake of his head to stop her.

  Picking her up, he carried her over to the bed, his hands unsteady as he laid her down and pulled off the rest of her clothes. Curve after silken curve was revealed and he resisted the urge to let his fingers linger and caress her until they were both naked and warm beneath the duvet. He wanted to put his head in between her legs but he wanted to be inside her even more. Somehow he found a condom and although she seemed eager to take responsibility for the task, he shook his head.

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘Let me do it. I don’t trust myself if you put your hands anywhere near me when I’m in this state.’

  Moments later and she was giving an exultant gasp as he thrust deep into her moist heat and that wild little sound set off something deep inside him. It kick-started a level of lust which grew and grew, threatening to blow him away. He did it to her hard and then he did it to her slow. He licked her skin and sucked on her flesh. He was on the very edge of control as he cupped her buttocks and drove into her, deeper and deeper and deeper. He never wanted it to end and yet for once he fo
und he couldn’t hold back any longer. His body stilled for one exquisite split-second before finally he began to jerk inside her.

  Eventually he turned his head and looked at her lying back against the pillows, her eyes closed. His voice sounded as if he was speaking from a long way away.

  ‘Did you come?’

  ‘Yes.’ Her eyelids fluttered open and she smiled. ‘Didn’t you notice?’

  Rafe stared up at the ceiling. Not really. It had been... He shook his head. He thought a burglar could have walked in and ransacked the room and he doubted he would have noticed. What was it about Sophie Doukas, this woman who’d had sex just a handful of times who could bewitch him like this? Lifting his forearm, he forced himself to glance at his wristwatch and to ignore the renewed lust which was hardening his groin again. He yawned. ‘I ought to go and help my brother clear the snow from the paths.’

  ‘Can I help?’

  He turned to look at her, propped up on one elbow, her glossy hair spilling down all over her bare shoulders and flushed face.

  ‘You?’ he said.

  ‘Is that such an extraordinary proposition?’

  ‘Are you serious?’

  ‘Totally serious. What’s the matter, Rafe—do you think the Princess isn’t capable of hard, physical work?’ Her blue eyes gleamed. ‘I travelled halfway across the globe to get to Poonbarra. Even you were surprised that I’d sailed across the Pacific. Shifting a little snow will be child’s play.’

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  IT WAS EASY to be nonchalant about your lover’s ex-girlfriend when he had just given you the most amazing orgasm, but not quite so easy once that euphoric blitz of hormones had subsided and you were confronted with the reality. And the reality was sitting right in front of her in church—an ex-girlfriend known as one of the most beautiful women in the world, and Sophie could instantly see why.