'Let me show you the most beautiful place on earth.'
He knew the perfect spot for the ultimate seduction, where his Queen would surrender right into his waiting arms.
'What do you say, angel?'
CHAPTER SIX
LUCIANA WAS IN THE throes of a wonderful dream and she never wanted to wake up. Amazingly strong, muscular arms wrapped her in the warmth of their protection and the rhythmic sound of the ocean lapping over the shore lulled her mind into a tranquil peace she hadn't felt in aeons.
A muffled lyrical trill shattered the halcyon bliss and beckoned her to rouse.
Bright was the splash of daylight behind her eyelids. Soft and sensually luxurious was the satin beneath her tummy and her cheek. Sweet was the scent of buttery pastry … or possibly French toast.
The musical chime hushed to a harmonious end.
Luciana writhed on the deeply cushioned mattress and stretched the kinks from her body, then prised her eyes open once, twice-and bolted up on all fours.
'Where the-?'
Rocking back, she sat on her ankles, her heart thrashing a symphonic staccato as her gaze bounced around the gargantuan almond-white room.
Holy-moly …
Paradise. She was in an enormous satin-drenched bed in paradise. Not only that, it felt inordinately pure. Minimalistic, all in varying shades of white, it serenaded a desperate search for solace.
In front of her and behind were the only solid walls, and when she swung to her right Luciana gasped at the fifty-foot-wide unencumbered view of a beautiful azure sky and the glistening crystalline waters of the Med as it frolicked with champagne sands. It was as if the entire wall had been rolled back and hidden to one side.
A wide wooden deck ran from the room to the shoreline and she smiled when a small lizard scurried across the sun-drenched teak.
Flipping her gaze to the left, to the opposite open expanse, she was faced with a rugged slab of rock dyed a deep charcoal-grey by the waterfall that sluiced down from some great height she couldn't see, to rush and froth and pool, then run beneath this very room … out through the other side and down toward the beach. Under the deck, she'd guess.
Gripping the edge of the bed, she tipped over to look at the floor, her hair spilling around her face. Oh, wow. Glass. The entire floor was glass. And she watched a vivid kaleidoscope of teeny-tiny fish dip and swerve and play beneath her.
So beautiful.
Giddiness leapt inside her at the sheer awesome natural beauty of it all-stunning architecture and a visual feast for the senses had always fascinated her. Odd that Thane was probably the only man she'd ever told that too.
Speaking of Thane … She lurched back upright to sit on the bed. Where the heck was he? And her heart-rate did not shoot through the roof when she thought of his name. Absolutely not. She hated the man. Yes, she did.
That would be the Thane who'd appeared so desperate to carry her into the main house, since by the time they'd arrived her insides had been battered and bruised from pummelling emotions and she'd been shivering with exhaustion. The Thane who had lain her gently in his bed … and after that everything was a bit blurry. Oh, Lord. Was it too much to ask that she'd booted him out of the room and banished him to Hades? Of course it was.
But, in her defence, her barricades had been low. And the devil was a maestro at taking advantage of that.
Lingering anger had her fisting the sheets.
She might have agreed to this bargain-ha! Agreed? As if she'd had any choice. But he was in for a nasty shock-because she was only here to prove she'd be the wife from hell. She'd evict him from her mind for ever while she focused on her end-game. Getting home to Natanael, come hell or high water.
On the plus side, seeing the real dark Prince in action, embroiled in some villainous scheme, would be just the ticket to satisfy her conscience that she'd made the right choices for them all. To ameliorate the guilt that constantly ate at her insides because she was keeping her son's existence a secret.
Though, honestly, she was mad even to trust that he'd take her home in two days. But the alternative was hauling out the big guns-her father. Who would likely kick off a military invasion. And that was the last thing she wanted. Hence she'd surrendered to the dark Prince.
Certifiable? Probably.
The opening bars of muffled Mozart trilled through the room-again!-and Luciana vaulted off the bed, the bare pads of her feet hitting cool glass as she searched every table-top. Because that sounded suspiciously like her phone. Which made no sense considering he'd told her it wouldn't work anywhere near the castle. But maybe he'd changed his mind about taking her there, maybe they were miles away from the horrid place – –
'Oh, good Lord. My bag!' She'd never been so darn happy in her life! She could kiss that horrible brute right now.
Snatching the black leather heap from the side table, she shoved her hand in, rummaging to the bottom.
'Don't ring off … don't stop. Please don't stop ringing.'
Shaking like a windswept leaf, she barely managed to hit 'accept' and mash it to her ear.
'H … Hello?'
'Luciana?' Claudia's voice was a sound for sore ears. 'Thank God-where are you?'
'I'm … '
Common sense smacked her upside the head. Where the blazes was Thane? She didn't want him party to this conversation.
'Hold on a minute,' she whispered frantically as she ducked and dived all over the room, opening and closing doors, her heart slamming around her chest, feeling like an extra out of a badly acted eighties cop show.
Aha! There he was. The fiend. In the distance, standing on the beach, talking to a short dark-haired man. Throwing a stick into the water, of all things.
Unleashing a pent-up breath, she slumped where she stood. Looked pretty innocent to her. No dastardly guns drawn or fisticuffs. Yet.
'Okay, I can talk. Is Nate all right?' she whispered, stepping back out of sight, hoping the walls didn't have ears. Or maybe she was on camera. Her gaze darted around the four upper corners of the room just in case.
'Of course he's all right. He's out with Lucas and Isabelle. Now, for heaven's sake, where are you?'
Good question. She actually couldn't believe she was about to say this. 'I'm in … Galancia.'
'Galancia?'
Claudia's holler had Luciana wrenching the phone from her almost burst eardrum.
'Oh. my God. I thought Augustus had been smoking pot or something.'
'The only thing Augustus gets high on is women.'
'Eww. He didn't? When you were there?'
'Sure he did.'
'You can't marry that man, Luce.'
Oh, great-Claudia sounded like Thane. Thane who wanted her 'very, very badly'.
Luciana rubbed the heel of her hand over her left breast. Naïve fool that she was, she wanted to believe those three little words. Words that whispered to a secret place inside her. So it was fortunate that his mind-blowing pheromones hadn't obliterated her every brain cell. Obviously he wanted something from her-everyone always did. She just wasn't sure what.
'Did Augustus tell Father?' she asked.
'No, not yet. Lucas made him keep his mouth shut until we heard from you. Half of me wondered if you'd just ducked out on Augustus, so we were giving you today to contact us before raising the alarm. Especially with Dad the way he is. Luce, what were you thinking, going there with that man?'
'I didn't have much choice.'
She stormed around the room, shaking the kinky mess from her ratty locks. Ugh, she felt gross. And that was when she spied her case on a pale ecru velvet chaise longue. Her case!
Mid jiggy-dance, she froze as every ounce of blood drained to her toes. Had he searched it? Hauling it from the chaise, she plonked it on the end of the bed and fumbled with the lock. The still locked lock. Phew.
Shoulders slumping, she tuned back in to Claudia's voice.
'What do you mean, you didn't have much choice? Did he force you? Did he … kidnap you? Did he?'
Claudia's glorious indignation flew down the phone line, and it was so good having someone in her corner. She took a great gulp of air to rake him over the hot coals …
And her gaze crashed into the wide stretch of canvas over the carved bedstead, making the words jam in her throat.
'Oh.'
'What do you mean "oh"? Luce, did you hear me?'
'Yes-yes, I heard you. Sorry, Claudia.'
'Did that Galancian brute steal you? Did he? That's it. I'm sending Lucas over there right now. He'll raze that place to the ground and get you out-'
'No.' What was she doing? What are you doing, Luce … ? 'No, he didn't take me, Claudia. I … I agreed to come.'
'Mmm-hmm. You sure about that?'
'Yes. He … he asked me to stay with him a couple of days to … talk. Yes, to talk. Then he's bringing me home.'
'Mmm-hmm.'
'Honest.'
Claudia's voice softened. 'Luciana, darling, do you really know what you're doing?'
Lifting her hand, she pressed her fingers over her mouth, felt them tremble against her lips, unable to take her eyes off the picture in front of her.
'Not really. But now I'm here I need to know. I need to … ' Prove to myself I'm over him. Make sure I've done the right thing.
'Okay, I hear you. Even the stuff you're not saying. The feelings that put that desolate look in your eyes … they haven't gone, huh?'