Becoming the Prince's Wife (Princes of Europe) (13 page)

He’d come up beside her and turned her over. “I know,” he whispered against her lips. “But as you’ve found out, I play by a different set of rules. Right now I’m going to kiss the daylights out of you.”

“No, Val—” she cried, but the second she felt his hungry mouth cover hers, she couldn’t hold off any longer. This time they weren’t in the back of the limo while the driver was waiting for them to get out.

There was nothing to impede their full pleasure as they wrapped their arms around each other. Slowly they began giving and taking one kiss after another, relishing the taste and feel of each other. While their legs entwined, the warm water lapped around them in a silky wet blanket.

“You’re so beautiful I could eat you alive. I’m in love with you,
adorata.
I’ve never said it to another woman in my life, so don’t tell me it isn’t love.”

She looked into his eyes blazing with blue fire. “I wasn’t going to,” she cried in a tremulous whisper before their mouths met in another explosion of desire. Carried away by her feelings, she quit fighting her reservations for the moment and gave in to her longings. She embraced him with almost primitive need, unaware of twilight turning into night.

“I’m in love with you, too, Val,” she confessed when he allowed her to draw breath. “I’ve been denying it to myself, but it’s no use. Like I told you on the yacht that first night, you make me feel immortal. Only a man who had hold of my heart could make me thankful I’ve been born a woman.”

He buried his face in her throat. “You bring out feelings in me I didn’t know were there. I need you with me, Carolena. Not just for an hour or a day.” He kissed her again, long and deep, while they moved and breathed as one flesh.

“I feel the same way,” she whispered at last, kissing his jaw where she could feel the beginnings of a beard. No man had ever been as gorgeous.

“Another time we’ll come out here in the middle of the night to watch the turtle fledglings hatch and make their trek to the water. Tonight I want to spend all the time we have on the cruiser with you. It’s getting cooler. Come on before you catch a chill.”

He got up first and pulled her against him. Dizzy from the sensations he’d aroused, she clung to him, not wanting to be separated from him for an instant, but they had to swim back to the boat. Valentino grasped her hand and drew her into the water. “Ready?”

“Yes.”

Together they swam side by side until they reached the back of the cruiser. He levered himself in first so he could help her aboard. “You take a shower while I get the cruiser ready for bed. We’ll eat in the galley. But I need this first.” He planted another passionate kiss on her mouth, exploring her back with his hands before she hurried across the deck and down the steps.

She’d packed a bag with the essentials she’d need. After carrying it into the shower, she turned on the water and undid her hair. It felt marvelous to wash out the sand and have a good scrub. Aware Valentino would want a shower, too, she didn’t linger.

Once she’d wrapped her hair in a towel and had dried herself, she pulled out her toweling robe. But when she started to put it on, it was like déjà vu and stopped her cold. What was she doing?

Yes she’d broken down and admitted that she loved him, but nothing else had changed. Though he’d spoken of his love and need to be with her all the time, he was still a prince with responsibilities and commitments she could never be a part of.

Abby had suggested she treat Valentino like a brother in order to make it through the rest of the week, but that tactic had been a total and utter failure. Carolena was painfully, desperately in love with him.

If they made love tonight, her entire world would change. She’d be a slave to her need for him and act like all the poor lovesick wretches throughout time who’d made themselves available to the king when he called for them.

It was sick and wrong! No matter how much she loved Valentino, she couldn’t do that to herself. Carolena couldn’t imagine anything worse than living each minute of her life waiting for him to reach out to her when he had the time. Once he married and had children, that really would be the end for her.

If she couldn’t have him all to herself, she didn’t want any part of him. There was no way to make it work. None. She’d rather be single for the rest of her life.

On the yacht that first night she’d told him he’d passed his test and could leave her cabin with a clear conscience. Now it was time for her to pass her test and go away forever.

She quickly put on clean underwear and a new pair of lightweight sweats with short sleeves. The robe she buried in the bottom of the bag. After removing the towel, she brushed her hair back and fastened it at the nape with an elastic.

After putting her bag outside the door, she headed straight into the galley and opened the fridge to get the food set out for them. When she’d put everything on the table, she called to him. A minute later he showed up in a striped robe. He’d just come out of the shower and his dark blond hair was still damp. Talk about looking good enough to eat!

She flashed him a smile. “Is everything fine topside?”

“We’re set for the night.” His eyes took in her sweats. Carolena knew her friendly air didn’t fool him, but he went along with her. “I like your sleepwear. Reminds me of Vito’s military fatigues.”

“This is as close as I ever hope to get to war,” she quipped. “Why don’t you sit down and eat this delicious food someone has prepared for us.” He did her bidding. She poured coffee for them. “How is your brother, by the way? Will he be in Gemelli long before he has to go back on duty?”

“I don’t know.” His vague answer wasn’t very reassuring. “He wants to meet you when we get back to the palace.”

She bit into a plum. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”

Lines marred his handsome features. “Why would you say something like that? He’s my only sibling still alive. Naturally I want him to meet you and get to know you.”

“Under normal circumstances there’s nothing I’d like more, but nothing about you and me is normal.”

His head reared back. “What are you trying to tell me now?”

Carolena eyed him with a frank gaze. “I’ve already admitted that I’m in love with you, but I’ve come to my senses since we came back on board and I don’t intend to sleep with you tonight or any other night. I want a clean break from you after I’ve finished out my contract, so there’s no need to be involved with any members of your family.”

He got that authoritative look. It was something that came over him even if he wasn’t aware of it. “There isn’t going to be a break.”

“So speaks the prince. But this commoner has another destiny. Don’t ask me again to forget that you’re royalty. It would be pointless. Do you honestly believe I could stand to be your lover in your secret life and watch you play out your public life with a royal wife and children? Other foolish women have done it for centuries, but not me.”

Valentino tucked into his pasta salad, seemingly not in the least bothered by anything she’d said.

“Did you hear me?”

“Loud and clear.” He kept on eating.

Her anger was kindled. “Stop acting like a husband who’s tired of listening to his nag of a wife. Have you ever considered why she nags him?”

“The usual reasons. I had parents, too, remember.”

“You’re impossible!”

Quiet reigned until he’d finished his coffee. After he put down the mug, he looked at her with those intelligent dark blue eyes. “How would
you
like to be my wife? I already know you have a temper, so I’m not shaking in my boots.”

Her lungs froze. “That was a cruel thing to say to me.”

His sinuous smile stung her. “Cruel? I just proposed marriage to you and that’s the answer you give me?”

Carolena shook her head. “Stop teasing me, Val. Why are you being like this? I thought I knew you, but it’s obvious I don’t. The only time I see you serious is when you’re wearing your princely mantle.”

He sat back in the chair. “For the first time in my life, I’ve taken it off.”

She started to get nervous. “Just because you broke your engagement, it doesn’t mean you’ve changed into someone else.”

“Oh, but I have!”

“Now you’re scaring me again.”

“Good. I like it when you’re thrown off base. First, let me tell you about my talk with Vito this morning.”

Carolena blinked. “That’s where you were?”

“He sent me an urgent message telling me he needed to see me as soon as possible. Otherwise I would never have left you.”

This had to do with their mother. Guilt attacked her. “Is your mother ill?” she asked.

“No. Last week I told Vito I was breaking my engagement to Alexandra. Since I had business with you, I asked him to meet the princess’s plane when she flew in to Gemelli.”

“She came to the palace?”

“That’s right. What I didn’t know until this morning was that Vito and Alexandra were lovers before he went into the military.”

The blood hammered in her ears.

“He signed up intending to make a career of it in order to stay away from her permanently. Neither my parents nor I knew why.”

“Those poor things,” she whispered.

Valentino nodded. “But after hearing that I’d broken our engagement, he found the courage to face me this morning. To my surprise, I learned she was on the verge of breaking it off with me, but Vito wanted to be the one to tell me. That was why she was so happy that I got there first.”

Carolena could hardly take it in. “You mean, they’ve been in love all these years?”

“Yes. It’s the forever kind.”

She was dumbstruck.

“When I left Vito, I told him there’d better be a marriage between the two of them soon or he’d have to answer to me. Mother will have no choice but to see him crowned king. The promise that one of her sons will reign makes everything all right. He’ll rule instead of me. No one will have to be disappointed, after all.”

By now Carolena’s whole body was shaking. “Are you saying you’d give up your dream in order to marry me?”

“It was never my dream. My parents thrust the idea upon me as soon as I was old enough to understand.”

Dying inside, she got to her feet. “Does your mother know any of this?”

“Maybe by now, which brings me to what I have to say to you. I meant what I said earlier tonight. I want you with me all the time, day and night. Forever.” He cocked his head. “Did you mean what you said the other day at your condo when I asked you what
you
wanted?”

Hot tears stung her eyelids. “Yes. But we both concluded it wasn’t possible.”

“Not both—” He leaned forward and grasped her hand. “I told you that true love had to be grabbed and enjoyed for the time given every mortal. When I asked you to fly up on Etna with me even though you knew there was a risk, you went with me because you couldn’t bear to miss the experience.”

“That was a helicopter ride. Not a marriage. There can’t be one between you and me. You’re supposed to be the King!”

* * *

“Am I not supposed to have any say in the matter,
bellissima?
”

“Val... You’re not thinking clearly.”

“I’m a free man, Carolena, and have never known my path better than I do now. When Michelina passed away, Vincenzo was free to marry Abby and he did so in the face of every argument. Lo and behold he’s still the prince.

“Whether the government makes him king after his father dies, no one can say. As for me, I’ll still be a prince when I marry you. The only difference is, I’ll work for Vito after he’s crowned.”

“You mean
if
he’s crowned. Your mother will forbid it.”

“You don’t know Vito. He wanted Alexandra enough to go after her. It looks like he’s got the stuff to make a remarkable king. Once Mother realizes their marriage will save her relationship with Alexandra’s parents, she’ll come around.”

“Does Vito want to be king?”

“I don’t think he’s given it much thought since everyone thought I’d be the one to assume the throne. But when we were younger and I told him I wanted to be a full-time volcanologist, he said it was too bad I hadn’t been born the second son so I could do exactly what I wanted.

“When I asked him what he wanted, he said it might be fun to be king and bring our country into the age of enlightenment. Then he laughed, but I knew he wasn’t kidding.”

“Oh, Val...”

“Interesting, isn’t it? At times, Michelina made the odd remark that he should have been born first. She and I were close and she worried for me always having to do my duty. I worried about her, too. She was too much under the thumb of our parents who wanted her marriage to Vincenzo no matter what.”

“If people could hear you talk, they’d never want to trade places with you.” She had a tragic look on her beautiful face. “As for your poor mother...”

“She’s had to endure a lot of sorrow and disappointment and I’m sorry for that. Naturally I love her very much, but she doesn’t rule my life even if she is the queen. I’m not a martyr, Carolena. It turns out Vito isn’t, either. To have to marry another royal is archaic to both of us, but in his case he happened to fall in love with one.”

“Your mother will think you’ve both lost your minds.”

“At first, maybe. But just because she was pressured into marriage with my father doesn’t mean Vito or I have to follow suit. The times have changed and she’s being forced to accept the modern age whether she likes it or not. Michelina went through a surrogate to have a baby with Vincenzo. That prepared the ground and has made her less rigid because she loves her grandson.”

“But you’re her firstborn. She’s pinned her hopes on you.”

“Haven’t I gotten through to you yet? Her hopes aren’t mine. When I decided to get my geology degree, she knew I was going to go my own way even if I ended up ruling. After she finds out that Vito wanted to be betrothed to Alexandra years ago instead of me, she’s going to see that you can’t orchestrate your children’s lives without serious repercussions.”

“I’m too bewildered by all this. I—I don’t know what to say.”

“I want you for my wife. All you have to say is yes.”

She sank back down in her chair. “No, that isn’t all.”