Dancing With the Dangerous Prince (3 page)

A moment later, he was walking away and she felt cold and lonely.  She waited until he was at the tree line again but then he stopped and turned around, watching her.  She trembled, wanting to call him back or, even better, to run towards him and start that kiss all over again. 

Instead, she walked into her cabin and hurried to the window.  She almost laughed out loud when she saw his hand lift in farewell.  How he knew that she was standing at her window, she’d never know.  But she liked that he could read her so well. 

Ciara was on swimming duty today!  She wouldn’t be in the woods! 

And she hadn’t seen him on her run this morning.  Where was he?  Was he okay? 

She pulled on her boring, one piece bathing suit after breakfast, grabbed a towel and pulled on a pair of shorts, not bothering with a tee-shirt today.  She’d be in the water all day, but she couldn’t argue with the camp director even though she had been hoping to be assigned a task that would put her more into the tree line.  Unfortunately, her swimming assignment meant she wouldn’t see Zoran! 

But she’d see him tonight!  That was something even though it was hours away. 

She’d barely slept last night, thinking about that kiss, about how he made her feel just by looking at her. 

As she picked her way over to the dock and started setting up the swimming games for the day, she thought about her future, something she tried to avoid thinking about whenever possible.  She would be married soon – possibly earlier than planned because of the rising tensions with the countries bordering hers.  Her father might love her, but he was a ruler above all else and if he could form a valuable alliance that could help protect the people in his country by marrying off his daughter, he would do it without remorse.  It wasn’t only because Ciara was a female.  If she’d been born a male, the same would be true.  Royal marriages were about alliances and forming a strong union that could help in an emergency.  They weren’t about love or spending the next fifty years with another person.  Her marriage would be political and she’d accepted that a long time ago. 

She should be a virgin on her wedding night, but the thought of another man touching her, someone other than Zoran, made her skin crawl.  How had he gotten to her in such a short period of time?  She barely knew the man! 

About midday, she felt a strange sensation and looked around.  She wasn’t sure what it was, but she somehow knew that Zoran was watching her.  Feeling self-conscious, she grabbed her towel and covered up.  The kids were all heading into the showers to change anyway so no one would think it odd that she was drying off as well. 

She picked up her backpack and checked her messages on her cell phone.  Several from her father, a few from her friends…

Ciara almost dropped her phone when she saw the text message.  “Drop the towel.” 

She looked around and just knew.  He was watching her! 

She bit her lip, wondering if she had the courage. 

“Drop it now,” came the next text and she shivered at the power that came through from his words.

She smiled, thinking about dropping the towel.  It would be crazy, wouldn’t it?  Obviously he was watching her. 

“You going to lunch, Ciara?” Joe called out.  He and the lifeguard, Rosa, waited a moment. 

Ciara shook her head.  “Could you grab me a sandwich?  I’m just going to get the ropes course ready for the next group.”

Both Rosa and Joe nodded their heads.  “Sure thing.  We’ll hurry back to help.”

“No rush,” she called back, thinking that Zoran was close by.  She wanted to see him, just to let her eyes roam over him.  That would be enough to sustain her until tonight. 

The other two camp counselors walked off, chatting with each other as they made their way to the dining hall.  When they were far enough away, she turned back, her eyes scanning the edge of the woods, trying to catch just a glimpse. 

And then she saw him!  He was swimming across the lake!  Goodness, his hard body was crossing through the water as if it were nothing!  She’d never seen anyone swim so well before; he was amazing.

When he stood up on the dock, she looked around, shocked to see him in shorts, dripping water. 

“What are you doing here?” she demanded, worried that the camp director would see him.  How could anyone miss him?  He was huge!  And glorious!  And amazing!

“You didn’t drop the towel, Ciara,” he told her, his dark eyes glaring at her as he moved closer. 

She smiled slightly, her body tingling with awareness of this man and how easily he could make her body sing with need.  “I have to set up for the next class,” she whispered, standing her ground but her whole body was trembling. 

“Drop the towel.”  He kept coming closer. 

She let it fall to the wooden deck, let his eyes move over her swimsuit clad body.  When his eyes skimmed over her breasts, she felt her nipples pucker and knew that he could see everything. 

His eyes snapped up to hers and she inhaled as she felt the heat from his gaze.  “Tell me what has to happen before the kids return from lunch.”

She told him and he smoothly dove back into the water.  With both of them working together, all the ropes were connected properly and it took barely a fraction of the time it would normally take.  When she told him it was finished, she felt his arms wrap around her and he pulled her over to the section of the water that was hidden from view from the campsite.  As soon as they were out of view, his mouth covered hers and his hands slid up and down her body.  Without the hindrance of regular clothing to stop him, it was practically as if she was naked. 

He lifted her legs, showing her how to wrap them around his waist so that she could hold onto him and she clung to him while he kissed her.  His hands moved to her breasts, sliding against the material and making her nipples even harder, more sensitive.  She’d never in her life imagined such feelings and she shifted against him, wanting more.

“Shhh,” he coaxed.  “You don’t want someone coming over here to find out what’s going on.”

Ciara bit her lip as his fingers slid the strap of her bathing suit down.  “They’ll be coming back soon,” she whispered.

His eyes looked into hers as he slowly peeled her bathing suit down.  The water was covering her but he lifted her higher, his eyes feasting on her breasts.  When his mouth covered one taut peak, she couldn’t hold back the cry of delight as her fingers dove into his hair, pulling and twisting as desire coiled inside of her. 

When he lowered her back down, she could feel the tension in his own body.  “We have to stop.”

“No,” she begged, leaning her forehead against his broad shoulder.  “This is crazy,” she sighed. 

His hands were firm and confident as he held her against him, sliding up and down her back, moving to tease her breasts as well.  “Meet me tonight.  What time?”

Her arms were shaking and she wanted so badly to shift so that his hands would touch her nipples again, to feel that crazy sensation.  But he was teasing her by not going there, by resisting those sensitized nubs.  “I get off right after dinner again.”

“Fine.  Meet me at the edge of the tree line,” he told her and pulled her straps back up.  He kissed her one more time, then swam with her as they returned to the dock.  “Until tonight,” he told her and kissed her, hard and quick. 

Ciara heard the excited voices of the campers as they approached the dock.  Lunch was over.  So was her time with Zoran.  “You have to go,” she urged him, not wanting to be caught with him in the lake. 

“Next time, follow my orders,” he said and ducked down under the water just as the first of the kids stepped onto the dock. 

Ciara held her breath as he ducked under the water, not sure where he was going or how he was going to get out of sight.  But she watched the smooth surface of the lake until she saw his head pop up again in the distance.  If she hadn’t known it was him, she wouldn’t have noticed him.  And none of the campers saw anything out of the ordinary.  She was grateful for his discretion, but she still wished she’d had more time with him. 

And she couldn’t get out of the water! 

Since her body still showed evidence of her desire for him, she swam out to one of the ropes course stations, waving to Joe and Rosa to indicate where she was. 

The rest of the afternoon moved painfully slowly.  She stayed in the water until the other campers rotated through.  When the afternoon’s activities were finally over, she pulled herself up on the dock, relieved that it was finally safe and her body wouldn’t show any indications of her excitement after being with Zoran. 

She didn’t pick up her phone, afraid to see if there were other orders from Zoran.  But she didn’t pick up her towel as she helped the kids grab their belongings. 

By dinner time, she was shaking.  She’d showered and changed, but she hadn’t dared to look at her phone, too afraid of what he might tell her to do.  It wasn’t that she didn’t want to do it, she just was frightened of the intensity of what he made her feel.  It was crazy and out of control. 

She grabbed an apple for dinner, then made her way out of the dining hall.  She wasn’t on duty tonight so she took advantage of her “night off”.  Grabbing a book, she walked out to the tree line, thinking she’d just sit and read until Zoran showed up.

But he was already there! 

“I wasn’t supposed to be here for another hour,” she told him, standing there looking at him.  The sun was still shining down, but it was a soft, golden glow now. 

“You ignored my messages.”

He tried to hide his need for this slender beauty, but it was hard.  He was hard.  His mind was so focused on her that it was difficult to think of anything else. 

“Yes,” she told him, the book forgotten in her hands. 

“Why?”

“Because…” she looked into his eyes, glad that she could see them tonight.  Not for long, though, she realized.  The sun was sinking over the horizon quickly.  She had maybe an hour of sunlight left.  “Because what you make me feel scares me.  I don’t understand it.”

Zoran heard her words and relaxed slightly.  It was exactly what he wanted to hear.  Not that she was afraid of him.  He didn’t like that at all.  “Trust me,” he coaxed and took her hand, pulling her deeper into the tree line.  “I won’t hurt you.”

She shook her head.  “I think we will both hurt each other when we head back to real life.”

“What’s real?” he asked, thinking she might be right, but he didn’t want to dwell on that.  This woman, this moment, was his reality now.  He didn’t want to think about his responsibilities or the burden of ruling Larcatia right now.  He wanted to focus everything he had on her.  On her soft skin and listening to her voice.  “Tell me about the swimming course today.  It looked like fun.”

She smiled, relieved that he wasn’t going to pounce on her immediately.  Oh, he’d better make a move by the end of the night, but at least she could relax slightly now.  She told him what the kids had to do through each of the stations and he gave her ideas on other challenges for the kids.  He didn’t tell her that he’d gone through SEAL training with some of the US soldiers, or that some of the ideas he offered were from that tough course.  They only had a limited amount of time with each other and he didn’t want to dwell on issues that might raise too many questions.  Questions he couldn’t answer. 

As the sun set and darkness surrounded them, he pulled her closer, having her lean against his chest while they talked.  He didn’t touch her in any other way, just enjoyed listening to her voice and her musical laughter. 

Eventually, the tension around them grew thicker and their conversation died out, replaced by an intense awareness of each other.  His hands moved along the skin of her arms and she froze, her breath catching in her throat. 

When his fingers moved against her waist, she held her breath, praying that he would move them higher, to feel the crazy feelings that he’d given her earlier today. 

“Tell me what you want me to do,” he said in her ear. 

“Touch me,” she finally said. 

“Where?” he asked, even though he knew. He just wanted to hear her say it. 

Ciara bit her lip, unaware of how her hands where gripping his knees as she waited tensely for his hands to cup her breasts. 

“Tell me where, Ciara,” he urged, his teeth biting the shell of her ear. 

She shook her head, unable to say the words, but she lifted his hands, showing him instead of telling him.  When his fingers cupped her breast, she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against his shoulder.  Those amazing fingers found her nipple through both layers of clothing and she arched into his hand. 

She gasped when his hands moved away and her eyes sprung open, a sound of disapproval came out of her mouth but he shushed her again.  A moment later, she stiffened in his arms when his large hands slid underneath her shirt.  She couldn’t believe how perfect those fingers felt.  And then he pulled that shirt off over her head, wanting it gone.

“I want to see you,” he told her.

Ciara had no idea what he could see, but she didn’t care.  She was too caught up in the moment, wanting his fingers back against her breasts.  Her hands were impatient, grabbing them back and putting them on her breasts once again.  With a flick of his fingers, he found and released the front clasp of her bra, then slowly pulled the lace back away. 

She was holding her breath and she suspected that he was as well.  Never before had she felt so powerful and so feminine. 

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered as his fingers slid across her nipples.  She gasped, the tender, almost-not-there touch sending her desire spiraling. 

“Please!” she gasped.