The Reluctant Princess Read online

  He thought, Only that. One kiss. And that sigh, inside me, all the rest of my days.

  He brought his mouth down over hers.

  Her lips parted. The sweetness within nearly finished him—right there, in her kitchen, in the bright light of morning. He tasted the slick inner surface beyond her soft lips and he thought he was dying.

  An acceptable sacrifice, the loss of his life. He was glad to go, though Valhalla would be lost to him—ah, the shame of it.

  The king’s warrior, dead in a kitchen of a woman’s kiss…

  He held her more tightly, his hands roaming her slim back, pressing that softness, that female warmth all the closer. Those full breasts of hers pushed against his chest. She moaned and her breath, sweet and hot and scented of coffee, flowed into his mouth. He sucked it in all the deeper, down into his soul. He would keep it forever, along with her sigh.

  Her soft fingers danced at the nape of his neck, threading into his hair, caressing outward, across his shoulders, then sliding back to clasp around his neck again. Her tongue, shy at first, grew bolder, darting into his mouth, flicking along the top of his own tongue, pausing there, darting back.

  She made a small, hungry sound, like a kitten seeking strokes. He groaned in response. And he swept his hands downward, over the incredible twin swells of her bottom, tucking her into him, his manhood pressing her most secret place.

  He was so hard. His body commanded him. To lay her down, to make her his…

  He curved the slim length of her backward over his arm, and he lost her mouth in order to gain the petal-soft flesh of her sweet chin, to run his tongue down the glorious stretch of her long, satiny throat.

  “Oh, Hauk. Oh, yes, yes…” She pressed her hips up against him, in invitation, in a promise of something he knew he couldn’t take.

  Yet still, she promised. She promised him everything. She murmured sweet encouragements, she drove him on with sighs.

  He kissed the twin points of her collarbone, pausing there, where her pulse beat in the hollow of her throat, to breathe deep, to suck in the womanly, flower-sweet scent of her, adding it to the treasures he’d already claimed—that sigh before he kissed her, that later breath. Breath upon breath, he would have them all.

  Those soft hands of hers were at his waist, fumbling with the shirt he wore, gathering it, sliding it upward. She caressed the bare skin over his ribs, scratching him lightly, tauntingly, with her finger-nails.

  He nuzzled the fabric of her light cotton blouse, burying his face in the soft swell of a breast, finding her nipple beneath the layers of clothing.

  He teased that nipple, drawing it up to a point, then closing his mouth over it, sending out a focused breath of air across it, biting at it, lightly, feeling it pebble up more firmly, as if it begged for more.

  She’d forgotten her task of removing his shirt. Her hand splayed in his hair now, pressing him closer, against her offered breast. He latched on, sucking, soaking the fabric over her nipple as he toyed with it.

  “Oh, yes,” she moaned, pulling him ever closer. “Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes…”

  He brought one hand between them, laid it in the center of her chest, against the glorious fullness of those proud breasts.

  “Yes…” She urged him on, soft lips against his ear, warm breath against his skin. She captured his earlobe, teased it between her teeth. “Yes, Hauk. Oh, yes…” Her hips moved against his, promising untold delights.

  Offering everything.

  All of her. All she was, all she had. So much. More than he had ever dared to dream of in his bastard soul.

  A prize beyond measure. Worth any price. He found the first button on her blouse, captured it between his thumb and his forefinger.

  “Yes,” she whispered, one more time.

  And then the phone rang.

  Chapter Ten

  The jarring bleat of the phone ruined everything.

  Hauk went still as a statue in Elli’s arms.

  She gripped his big shoulders and begged him, “Oh, please, just let it ring.”

  But he was already taking her hands, gently peeling them away, his face flushed and regretful, shaking his head. “We must stop. You know that.”

  “No, I don’t know that. I don’t know that at all.”

  He stepped back from her. She had that feeling of something tearing again, as in the movie theater the day before. Only worse. A thousand times worse.

  He said softly, “Answer the phone.”

  She wanted to scream, to throw something. “No.”

  “Don’t behave like a spoiled child.”

  He was right and she knew it.

  Not about having to stop—never, ever about that. She had given up fighting this lovely, impossible magic between them. And she was furious with him all over again, to look in his face and see his jaw was set—like his mind—against her, against what might be between them, against all they might share.

  But acting out wouldn’t solve anything. She went to the counter and punched the button that answered the call on speakerphone. “Hello?”

  “Elli. Oh, sweetheart…”

  “Aunt Nanna.” Like her daughters, Elli’s mother had been one of fraternal triplets. Elli’s Aunt Kirsten lived in San Francisco. Aunt Nanna lived in Napa. There had been a brother, too, but he had died when Elli and her sisters were babies.

  Nanna made a worried noise, low in her throat. “I was afraid…”

  “Afraid of what?”

  “That you’d already have gone.”

  Elli shut her eyes and tried to collect her scattered wits, to concentrate on what her aunt was saying instead of thinking of what hadn’t quite had a chance to happen between her and Hauk. “I, uh, take it you’ve been talking to Mom?”

  “Oh, Elli. I just got off the phone with her.”

  Elli opened her eyes and there he was, watching. She turned away, toward the window, so she wouldn’t have to look at him. “I’ll be leaving in a few hours.”

  “Oh, honey, are you absolutely sure about this?”

  “Yes. I’m positive.” And she was. Positive about a lot more than just the trip to meet her father.

  “Ingrid’s so worried for you. I am, too. You don’t really understand the way things work in that place. I’m sorry to say it, but your father is not a man anyone should trust. He broke your mother’s heart, you know, he broke—”

  Elli had heard it all before. “Nanna, what, exactly, did he do that’s made you all hate him so?”

  Nanna took a moment to answer. Elli could just see her, pursing up her mouth. Finally she said, “You’ll have to speak with your mother about that.”

  “That’s what you always say. And when I ask Mom, I get nothing. So let’s just leave it, okay? Accept the fact that I have to meet him, to decide how I feel about him for myself.”

  Nanna made a small, frustrated sound.

  Elli said firmly, “I want to do this, I sincerely do.”

  Nanna sighed. “Your mother warned me that there’d be no way to change your mind.”

  “And she was right—how’s Uncle Cam?” Her uncle was a total type A. He’d had a quadruple bypass a couple of months ago.

  “Elli—”

  “Come on, Aunt Nanna. I’m going and that’s all there is to it. So how’s Uncle Cam?”

  The silence that followed told Elli her aunt was debating with herself—to let it be as Elli asked. Or to press on with her warnings and her worries.

  Nanna let it be. “Your Uncle Cam is doing well. We’ve got him eating low-salt and low-fat. He’s taking his medication….”

  They talked for a few more minutes, about her cousins, Nanna’s son and daughter, who were both in high school, about Elli’s two classes of bright-eyed kindergartners. Elli promised she’d make it over to Napa at least once during her summer break.

  “Take care,” Nanna said at last. “Be safe.”

  “I love you. I will.”

  The line went dead and after a second or two, the dial tone buzzed.
Hauk was the one who reached out and pressed the button to cut off the sound. Elli turned from the window and met his eyes. Distant eyes now. Once again, he had barricaded his heart behind a shield of watchfulness. Looking at his stern, unforgiving face, she wanted to throw herself against him, to beat on his broad chest, to demand that he show her his real, tender self again.

  Her shirt was wet, where he’d put his mouth to her breast. She looked down at it, at the moist circle over her right nipple. Then, proudly, she lifted her head.

  “Guess I’d better change my shirt.”

  “Pack,” he said. The single word echoed harshly, like a door slamming shut.

  What more could she say, except, “Yes. I guess I’d better do that.”

  For once, he didn’t fall in behind her as she turned for the hall. Great, she thought. She could use a break. A few precious minutes to herself, to get past her shameless disappointment at losing her chance to get lost in his arms.

  Elli paused in the doorway to her bedroom. She leaned her forehead against the doorframe and shut her eyes and wished it didn’t have to be like this.

  Maybe she should just look on the bright side. At least for a few unforgettable minutes there, she’d had a taste of what it might be like to be Hauk FitzWyborn’s love….

  Elli drew herself up. Really, looking on the bright side just wasn’t going to cut it. She unbuttoned the shirt that was still wet from his kiss and went to the bathroom to toss it in the hamper.

  Okay, so he’d been saved by the bell. This time.

  In her bedroom, she pushed open her closet door.

  He still had a commitment to escort her to Gullandria. And after they got there, she might find ways to see him, to be near him.

  She took a jewel-blue silk shirt from a hanger, put her arms in the sleeves and buttoned it up.

  Why not think positively? She wanted him, she cared for him. And as hard as he kept fighting it, she believed in her heart that he wanted and cared for her, too.

  He’d let down his guard once. It could happen again. Maybe she’d get another chance to show him just how strongly she felt for him. And maybe next time, he wouldn’t push her away.

  She got her big suitcase and hoisted it to the bed, laying it open. Standing very still, she listened. She heard nothing. Hauk could move so quietly. He might be standing in the doorway right now.

  She shot a glance over her shoulder.

  Empty.

  Good. She listened some more and ended up deciding she felt reasonably certain he’d yet to leave the kitchen. He didn’t want to be near her right now. He needed a little time to marshal his defenses against her.

  Suited her just fine.

  She went to the tall dresser by the inner wall and pulled open the top drawer—all the way open, so she could get to the very back of it.

  Her hand closed on the box that she’d pushed in there a few months ago. She’d been dating someone then, on a regular basis. She’d thought that maybe it might become more than it was.

  But the relationship had cooled before it ever really heated up. In the meantime, though, she’d bought the box of condoms, just in case.

  Right now, with Hauk, it was much more than a just in case situation. If a miracle happened and he held out his arms to her, she would run to him, eagerly. Better safe than sorry, if her dreams did come true.

  At ten-thirty, she was ready to go. She got her passport from the desk in the spare room. She was slipping it into her purse when Hauk appeared in the doorway.

  “Are you ready?”

  She thought of the box of condoms and she almost let out a wild little laugh. “Um-hm.”

  “Your suitcase?”

  “In my bedroom.”

  He turned toward the door to her room.

  She followed behind him. “I packed my overnighter, too. And I can carry both bags myself, honestly. The big one has those rollers and…” She let her voice trail off. There was no point in saying more.

  He slung the strap of the smaller bag over his shoulder and he grabbed the handle of the big suitcase and headed for the front door.

  Fine. Let him haul it all down the stairs by himself if he wanted to. She checked the lock on the patio door and made sure all the lights were out. He waited for her by the front door, laden with her bags and that big black duffel of his, too.

  She opened the door and gestured him out ahead of her. At the base of the stairs, she turned for the carports.

  “No,” he said. “Follow me.” He led her out another way, to a side street and a black van.

  “Tinted windows,” she remarked. “An absolute necessity when it comes to kidnapping unwilling princesses.”

  It was a bad joke and it fell flat. He didn’t bother to respond.

  She just couldn’t leave it at that. “I suppose you’ll want me to drive. You’ll need your hands free to keep me under control. Then again, who knows? If I’m behind the wheel, I could go wild, decide to make a break for Bakersfield.”

  He was already turning for the driver’s door himself. “Just get in.”

  Her father’s Gulfstream jet had a roomy pressurized cabin furnished with six high-backed leather seats, teak tables beside them. There were also a collapsible dividing wall and a full-size bed that could be pulled down to make the divided-off space into a flying bedroom.

  “Does Your Highness wish a nap?” the attendant inquired. She was a tall blonde in a slim black skirt and a crisp white shirt. She had a blue-and-gold lightning bolt embroidered on her pocket as well as on the crest of her jaunty-looking red garrison cap.

  “No, thanks.” Elli took one of the high-backed leather chairs as Hauk, shoulders hunched, golden head grazing the ceiling, moved farther down the cabin.

  “Refreshment?”

  “Not right now.” Elli’s mind wasn’t on food. She resisted the urge to lean out of her seat and look back at Hauk. He’d been depressingly silent on the drive to the airport—not that his silence was anything all that new or different. It only seemed that way, after those beautiful, too-brief moments in his arms.

  “Fasten your seatbelt,” said the flight attendant. “We’ll be cleared for takeoff soon.”

  Elli nodded and smiled and the attendant left her alone. She looked out the window as they taxied along the runway. It all seemed so…civilized, the attractive attendant, the beautifully appointed jet. She couldn’t help wondering what the attendant might have said to her had Hauk brought her on board all tied up with a gag in her mouth.

  Probably nothing. The woman would have pulled the collapsible divider across the cabin and brought down the bed and Hauk would have dropped Elli on it without anyone asking if she’d care for a nap.

  It would be a long flight, but it would be nonstop. Hauk sat in his seat and tried not to stare at her seat in front of him. The sky out the window was clear. Fat white clouds drifted below the wing.

  It was over—their time together. In the end, his sense of duty and his understanding of his place in the world had triumphed. He hadn’t succumbed to the desperate hunger that would have caused her nothing but shame and heartache and cost him more than he cared to contemplate. He told himself he was glad it had gone no further between them.

  An indiscreet embrace and a few passionate kisses—more than he should have allowed to happen. But not total disaster. Thanks to a ringing phone, he’d stopped it in time.

  He was weary. Of everything. Hauk shut his eyes and allowed himself to disappear into the first deep sleep he’d known in days.

  He woke, startled, when the plane dropped several hundred feet and then slammed against an air current below.

  The attendant, in a chair down near the cockpit door, wore a bright, professional smile. “A little turbulence. Nothing to worry about.”

  He took her at her word, at first. But the going got rougher, the plane rising and dropping like a toy in the hands of a brutal child. Rain drove against the windows. The sky beyond the insulated panes was black a few feet from the glass—except whe
n Thor threw his hammer and lightning in ragged fingers lit the blackness with a golden-green light, followed not long after by the deafening crack and roll of thunder.

  Hauk got up and worked his way forward. He paused by the seat of the princess—after all, it was his duty to check on her. To keep her safe.

  She looked up at him. “Kind of rough, huh?”

  “You’re all right?”

  She gave him a nod. “I’m good.” It was another reason among the thousand reasons that she was a woman any man would covet—she didn’t frighten easily.

  Lightning speared through the blackness outside again, its eerie glow suffusing the cabin. Thunder boomed. The plane dropped sharply, then bottomed out hard against the fist of a rising air current.

  And through it all, he stared at her and she looked up at him, her face pale and calm and so beautiful it felled him like a deathblow from an enemy’s ax. “I’ll check our status with the pilot.”

  She nodded, shifted that haunting gaze away. He staggered on toward the cockpit.

  The pilot told him what he’d already deduced. There was no fighting through this mess. They no longer had the fuel to make it all the way to Gullandria. They would have to land, refuel and then wait for the storm to blow itself out.

  It was, to say the least, a rocky next few hours. Elli was never so grateful as when Hauk told her they’d gotten the go-ahead to land at a private airstrip just outside of Boston.

  The landing was one of those lurching, scary, hope-I-never-do-this-again kind of experiences. But they made it and they made it safely. As soon as the plane taxied to a stop, Hauk went forward a second time to speak with the pilot.

  He came out looking bleak. “The storm shows no signs of abating. This will be an overnight stop.”

  “Will we just stay here, on the plane?”

  He shook his head. “I’ll arrange for suitable lodging.”

  Lodging. A triumphant little thrill shot through her. Hauk wouldn’t be rid of her quite as soon as he’d hoped.

  And so very much might happen, in one more night alone together….