Corrupted by the Prince (A is for Alpha Book 5) (5 page)

Her discomfort visibly eased as she glanced around the interior.

“This isn’t at all what I expected.” Her confession was soft as she moved to the wall of glass that overlooked the beach.

In the darkness, it was impossible to see more than the beginning of the white-painted boardwalk that led to the beach and the inky dark ocean beyond.

“And what is it you expected?”

She shook her head. “I’m not sure. More opulence. Extravagance. Something a little more royal? Whatever that means.” She gave a half smile. “This seems like a home you’d find in the pages of a Martha Stewart magazine or something.”

He looked around, taking in the sights as if he were seeing them for the first time. Simple, plush, and comfortable oversized white chairs and a couch. Wood coffee and side tables. And a flat-screen television that was large, but not obscenely so. Coastal décor hung on the walls and rested on the tables.

His laugh was soft as he came to stand beside her. “You are close to the truth,
glykia mou
. When I purchased this home I had my assistant help with the interior design. Which in all honestly became me picking my favorite layouts in a fancy magazine.”

“Even still. You could’ve gone so much more opulent. Tawdry.” She paused and then gave a small grimace.

“Ah, yes. Much like the home where the soirée was held this evening?”

Her head jerked back slightly and she cast him a quick look of surprise. She stared at him momentarily before giving a small nod.

“Yes, more along those lines, I suppose.”

Had he offended her? Although he hoped not, he suspected he might have. It was likely she was friends with the hosts of the event, as she’d clearly had an overnight bag packed with her to stay.

“Such décor isn’t offensive,” he mollified, “it simply is not to my taste.”

“And what of the rest of the royal family? Would it be to theirs?”

Without hesitation, he nodded. “Yes, quite honestly. But then I think it is expected from the royal family.”

For the first time, he saw the spark of awe in her eyes. A look he was familiar with from men and women alike. Being a royal was a good fortune of birth, or if you were quite lucky, marrying into the family. It was foreign and unattainable to the average person.

When he desired a woman, and saw that look of awe in her eyes, it was all too easy to use it to his advantage. But tonight, with Eva, he didn’t want his status as a royal to be the reason she slept with him.

“Come, let us have a drink out by the pool. You brought your swim costume?”

“Yes.” That hint of color surfaced in her cheeks again. “And I find it amusing you refer to it as a swim costume.”

“Do you? And what do you refer to it as?”

“Bathing suit or a swimsuit usually.”

“Yes, I suppose I could see swimsuit. But you’re hardly bathing in it, so that former doesn’t seem very logical.”

“Point taken. I’ll scratch that term and forever use swimsuit.”

“I cannot convince you to call it a swim costume?” he cajoled.

“Not a chance. I’m not attending a themed party in it, am I?” Her laughter was both unpretentious and refreshing as she followed him out onto the back patio where a turquoise pool was lit up in the night.

“True. However, I will continue to refer to it as such.”

“To each their own, Your Royal Highness.”

He caught her wrist, slowing her to a stop and turning her to face him. “You don’t need to refer to me by my title, Eva. Not tonight.”

She looked at him through her lashes, not seeming offended, but more so curious. “But I should at other times?”

There was little point in pretending otherwise. “In public, it is more appropriate and respectable. A requirement, even, if you are in my country.”

She gave a murmur of agreement. “I see.”

“But tonight, I insist you not use any formalities. I’m simply Kostas, a bachelor on holiday. And you are…” He paused. “A lovely woman I met on the beach, who in truth I know very little about.”

A flash of amusement lit her gaze and she lifted one shoulder. “Do you really need to know much more than that? I’m simply a girl named Eva.”

“While you have me at a disadvantage, I suppose you’re right. I don’t need to know much more.”

Only he wanted to. He wanted to know everything about her. To peel back each layer and find out who Eva was as a person. That desire tangled with the more primitive desire to peel off the layers of clothing that separated them and discover who Eva was as a lover.

Seeing as she didn’t seem as open to the former, he would have to settle for the latter if she allowed him the pleasure.

He closed the distance between them and slid a hand to cup the back of her neck. “I’m pleased you decided to join me this evening. I promise you will not regret it.”

Regret which part exactly?

Eva wasn’t quite sure how to respond, because she already felt like she was in over her head. While she was inarguably inexperienced, she’d gone on the occasional date with high-status men before. But never outright royalty.

Perhaps Mykorini wasn’t as large of a country as England, or its royal family as well known. But there was no denying that most of the population had heard of the Mykorini royal family—likely because of the very man who stood in front of her right now.

He was as breathtakingly handsome as he was disreputable, and the media adored keeping tabs on the bad-boy royal and his latest scandal.

She didn’t much follow the tawdry stories, and knew enough about the gossip sites to realize they embellished the truth more often than not. But she vaguely recalled the most recent rumor about Kostas had yet to die down.

“How about I have champagne and refreshments prepared, while you go change into your swim costume?”

Relieved that he wasn’t going to try and jump straight into seduction, she nodded. “That sounds good.”

“There is a small washroom at the end of the pool. You can change in there.”

“All right.”

“Before you do, let me help you with this.” He slid his hand up the nape of her neck and over the tightly coiled knot of hair.

She didn’t protest as he deftly unfastened it and her hair spilled into a chaotic halo around her shoulders.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since I first approached you on the beach.” He slid his fingers over a strand and his gaze softened. “You are even more beautiful with your hair down.”

It wasn’t often that she wore it down. The color itself garnered attention, which was something she already tried to avoid with her family drawing so much of it.

But there was no denying the thrill his words gave her, or the little flipping in her stomach. Her feminine side wasn’t something she sought to enhance all that often, but right now the temptation was rising to do so.

“Take your time getting ready, Eva. I will return shortly. If I’m not back when you are finished, feel free to make use of the pool while you wait.”

“Thank you.” She stepped away from him, once more confused by her reaction to his presence. His touch. To Kostas overall.

As she made her way to the washroom, she knew he hadn’t moved, because she could feel his gaze burning into her.

Only when she heard his retreating footsteps did she let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

She slipped into the washroom at the end of the patio and closed the door behind her. A quick glance in the mirror showed her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright.

No man had ever affected her the way he did. She just didn’t quite know who she was anymore when Kostas was nearby.

With a soft sigh, she pulled her bathing suit out of her tote and quickly changed into it.

Even though he’d seen her earlier on the beach in the suit, she still felt closer to naked than not. Usually she wasn’t the self-conscious sort, but knowing the type of women Kostas was generally associated with made her a bit more so tonight.

Not that she should be self-conscious. She had a decent body. Compared to her sisters, maybe she bordered on too thin, but she led a more active lifestyle and always had. Besides, she had curves in all the right places even if she usually tried to downplay them.

When she stepped out of the washroom, it was clear that Kostas hadn’t returned yet. Left with the option of waiting in one of the loungers or climbing into the water, she went with the latter.

There was something charming about swimming at night that had always drawn her. Especially out here when you were away from the big city lights.

She set her bag on one of the oversized pool loungers and then descended the stone steps into the lit turquoise pool. The water sluiced over her skin, gentle, warm, and without the heavy scent of chlorine.

“It’s a saltwater pool.”

The lazy drawl of his voice had her lifting her gaze from the water to watch Kostas as he stepped outside.

“I was actually going to ask if it was.”

“I hope that doesn’t bother you. I simply prefer the feel of it on my skin.”

His skin was blatantly on display with nothing but board shorts and a towel draped around his neck. And, oh lord, those abs.

Maybe there was some universal clause for royals that automatically gave you a washboard stomach. Or maybe he was just a bit of a fitness geek like she was. Not that her abdomen had the type of grooves that you could run a Hot Wheel car over.

She struggled to speak and address his comment. Her words were throaty. “I don’t mind at all. I prefer it. It reminds me of swimming in the ocean, just warmer.”

“Agreed.” His stroll across the patio seemed almost predatory and his gaze slipped over her in a visual caress.

He dropped the towel around his neck, and the extra one he’d been carrying, on one of the loungers, before making his way to the edge of the pool.

There was no hesitation as he dove into the deepest part in a smoothly executed move.

When he surfaced, droplets of water clung to his dark hair and ran down his chiseled face.

This man was like a sexy swimsuit ad come to life. As her pulse ratcheted up, her tongue felt thick in her mouth and she struggled to swallow. Her response to him only intensified as he swam closer.

“Drinks and snacks will be arriving soon.”

“Okay.”

With the distance between them closing and her pulse ratcheting up, she swallowed the knot in her throat and did what any rational female would do.

She dove beneath the surface and swam in the opposite direction.

Kostas paused in his slow approach through the water, his lips twisting in amusement as he took note of Eva’s deliberate swim away from him.

Was she playing coy? He hadn’t completely figured Eva out, but it seemed at odds for her. Though a woman playing coy wasn’t a completely unfamiliar game. It was, however, just that. A game. And one he was well used to from the women who came in and out of his life.

She came to a rest at the shallow end of the pool. There was no mistaking the glimmer of awareness in her eyes as her gaze drifted over his body. Clearly she wasn’t displeased with what she saw. Which made her skittish behavior all that much more puzzling.

Perhaps it was a game, and at this moment, he was surprisingly inclined to indulge her.

He resumed his slow movement through the water until he came to stand next to her in the shallow part of the pool.

Instead of reaching for her and pursuing any immediate physical contact, he changed his approach.

“Tell me something about yourself, Eva.”

Surprise flickered in her eyes, as if she’d expected him to pounce the moment he’d entered the pool.

“What is it you want to know?”

He lifted on shoulder in a carefree shrug. “Something that would surprise me.”

She didn’t reply right away, and he could swear there were a million thoughts running through her head. She was choosing her answer carefully, it seemed.

The silence didn’t bother him, though. It gave him a moment to take in how sensual she looked surrounded by the turquoise saltwater. With her hair down, the reddish strands that were heavy with water clung to the pale slopes that ran along the top of her breasts.

He wanted to peel the green swim costume down her body. To reveal and discover the secrets beneath.

“Okay, here’s one that I don’t admit to anyone.” She laughed softly and her chest rose with the movement.

Need coursed through him, and he drew in a slow breath to try and control it. When was the last time he’d wanted a woman this intensely? It was difficult to recall.

“I, um,” she continued, “sort of have a thing for boy bands. Especially ones from the ‘90s.”

Because it wasn’t at all what he’d been expecting to hear, his gaze jerked back to her face.

Her amusement became uncertainty, and he knew he’d been caught staring at her breasts as if he were some adolescent.

Get ahold of yourself, Kostas, you’re hardly a novice when it comes to women.

“Boy bands, you say?” he repeated, trying to keep the conversation light. “Any one in particular?”

“I’m not really picky. If there are two or more men harmonizing and performing cringe-worthy dance routines, I adore it.”

He searched her face to see if she was joking, but there was a hint of chagrin there to prove her words true. It only took a bit of imagination to envision her singing along to one of these boy bands—perhaps with her curtains drawn or with no chance of discovery.

She lifted a finger and narrowed her eyes. “And you’ll take that confession to your grave.”

His lips twitched and he nodded. Surely she was exaggerating a bit on no one knowing her love of boy bands.

It might make sense if she were truly an uptight librarian like the costume she’d portrayed, but it didn’t seem so outrageous for an average woman.

Or maybe that was it—she was a grown woman, not a teenage girl who tended to be these bands’ target audience. It did make him wonder about another thing though.

“What do you do, Eva?”

“Do?”