She shuddered. She didn’t like any of her brother’s so-called friends. She never had. From the time she’d been old enough to notice, they’d watched her with hungry eyes, exchanging secret smiles.
While her father had been alive, she’d been protected. She’d been safe. But her father was gone, and now her brother thought he was master of the universe. Master of her destiny.
To him she was nothing more than a piece of meat, to be sold to the highest bidder. And her not-so-dear brother had done exactly that.
She would not go back.
But if worst came to the worst and this man forced her to do exactly that, she couldn’t afford to let her brother win. Not entirely. He might ultimately succeed in marrying her off to the count, but she wouldn’t let anyone she didn’t want to marry take the one thing she’d protected for so long. She might be up for sale, but she refused to throw in her virginity as a bonus.
So, what choice did she have? Why shouldn’t she take matters into her own hands? Why shouldn’t her first time be with someoneshechose? She’d said no to both Luke and Mateo. She’d turned them down because she hadn’t given up on the dream that she might marry for love and the man that she married would be her first. Because she’d been saving herself. But time was rapidly running out for her to make a choice of her own.
She knew Theo wasn’t unmoved last night. He might have been half asleep, but he had responded to her presence and her touch like he wanted it. Like he welcomed it.
And if she had to decide who to give her virginity to between Theo and the Count de Lorenzo, there was no contest.
Sure, it wouldn’t be the way she’d always wanted it to be. She’d always wanted the whole fairy tale. She wanted to fall in love and marry someone who loved her too, the way her mother and father had loved each other. She wanted her first time to be with the man she would spend the rest of her life with.
The wind tugged at her hair, sending ends flicking against her closed eyes. She turned over, resting her head on her crossed arms, catching a glimpse of Theo watching her through the window before he darted out of view.
A frisson shivered down her spine, setting nerves strumming and making her toes curl in the water. Even just a glimpse of him set the space between her thighs tingling. So, maybe her first time wouldn’t be with the man she would spend the rest of her life with, but at least it would be with a man who set her senses alight. And clearly, the seeds she had planted were sprouting. She would be the one to choose who her first time would be. And it wouldn’t be so bad. She could do a whole lot worse than a man who stirred her senses.
She sighed. Reckless, Theo had called her, and so what that he was right? There was a time for reckless, and with time in short supply, there was no better time for reckless than now.
She just had to work out how and when.
Theo rubbed the back of his neck with one hand as he strode the length of the apartment. He shouldn’t have jumped when she’d caught him watching.
It certainly wasn’t that he wanted to watch her. Especially not when she was wearing nothing more than a few square inches of fabric that only served to reveal more than they hid. It was a form of torture she was subjecting him to, and he was in no doubt that was her absolute intention. Her curves—her ample breasts, her tiny waist and the sweet flare to her hips—reminded him so much of both what he’d experienced so briefly while in dreamland last night and what he’d missed and hungered for so long.
In any event, it wasn’t like he’d just been watching her, because naturally he’d been anxious about the weather too. The twin mountains of Lidgbird and Gower were now shrouded in a donut of cloud that ominously circled their peaks while the wind thrashed at the palms and the foliage below.
The latest he’d heard the airport was still open and flights today were still expected to go ahead, but he wouldn’t relax until they were on the plane and both safely Sydney bound.
But none of that was the real issue.
The real issue was that he wasn’t about to risk her running again. He turned back to the window. As difficult as it was, he had no choice but to watch her.
That was all.
It was another twenty minutes before the Princess decided that she’d had enough of flaunting herself in the plunge pool. Finally, she emerged. It was a relief and yet it just proved another set of challenges, because the door blasted open as she entered the room dripping wet. Of course, he thought, teeth gritted, she hadn’t bothered taking a towel let alone putting on her robe.
‘Go and get yourself showered and packed,’ he yelled against the wind, as he battled to close the door. ‘As far as we know the flight is still on.’
‘But I’m dripping water,’ she said, clutching her arms around her waist, her robe trailing uselessly from her hands.
The door snapped closed. ‘Then run,’ he said, without turning to look at her. He was fed up with her antics.
Thirty minutes later, he was zipping up his duffel bag when above the wild weather, he heard someone beating on the door. ‘Who is it?’ the Princess said, appearing down the stairs. His gaze flicked over her attire. It was a relief to see her finally wearing something more appropriate—jeans and loafers with a soft knit top.
He held up a hand to shush her. He opened the door a crack. It was Tom Parker outside, bringing the message Theo least wanted to hear. Theo cursed, forcing closed the door after the message had been delivered. He shouldn’t have been surprised. The wind had been building all morning, the squalls coming more and more furiously, but still the news was like a body blow. The cyclone had deviated closer to the island. It was expected to track away eventually, but for today, the news was grim. The airport was closed. There would be no flights in or out today.
He turned, his face grave and no doubt betraying his disappointment. ‘It seems like you got your way, Princess. The airport is closed. We won’t be leaving today.’
It galled him that she looked halfway delighted. ‘Oh, that is a shame. I mean, you must be itching to get back to your work. Hunting down international criminal masterminds and all that.’
‘I am looking forward to completing this case, yes.’
‘So sad, I know how much you were looking forward to be done with me.’
