The Crown Affair (11 page)

However his body wanted more of her. Much more. He wanted to watch her shatter in his arms again. Wanted to shatter in her arms.

Hmm. Maybe he could dispense with a few facts and then turn his talents to persuading her to find another use for her mouth.

‘Fine,' he said. ‘My favourite colour is blue.' Cornflower blue, he thought, looking into her eyes and momentarily losing his train of thought. ‘My favourite food is chilli and I don't have time for hobbies. Anything else?'

Her eyebrows shot up. ‘Are you kidding?' she said softly.

‘What do you want to know? Ask me anything.' Whether he'd choose to answer was another matter entirely.

Laura tilted her head on his chest. ‘OK,' she said slowly. ‘Seeing as you're such a novice at this sort of thing, we'll start with my original question. How did you become king?'

Matt relaxed. That was an easy enough question to answer. ‘Six months ago a Sassanian delegate showed up at my office and offered me the job.'

‘Just like that?'

‘Pretty much.' It hadn't been quite that simple. At first he'd almost summoned security to remove what
he'd thought was a madman. But after the delegate had persuaded him to listen, Matt had wasted no time in accepting. His business was well established and so successful that it practically ran itself and, to be honest, he'd been getting a bit restless. The visit from the Sassanian delegate couldn't have come along at a better time.

‘Did you know you were heir to the throne?'

‘Of course, but my family had been in exile so long we'd more or less forgotten about it.'

‘So what happened?'

‘They had a coup.'

‘Nasty.'

Matt twined his fingers through hers and felt her shiver. ‘Actually, not too bad as coups go. It was bloodless. I think the country had come to the end of the road and everyone knew it. It had been in steady decline for years. It was socially, financially and morally bankrupt. Corruption was rife. It still is. Public services are virtually non-existent.'

‘And it's down to you to sort it out?'

‘Sorting out problems is what I do.'

‘Handy.' A smile curved her lips and Matt's stomach tightened.

‘Not really,' he said. ‘I was told I was the main reason why they voted to restore the monarchy.'

Her eyes widened. ‘That sounds pretty drastic. Couldn't they have just employed you as a consultant or something instead?'

‘They wouldn't have been able to afford me. This way they get me for free.'

‘So cynical.'

‘I prefer realistic.' At the look of affront in her eyes on his behalf, something inside him thawed. ‘But if it makes you feel better,' he said, faintly bewildered by
the feeling, ‘I believe they thought a figurehead would unite the country and restore confidence.'

‘So no pressure, then.'

‘Fortunately I thrive under pressure.'

‘What's the plan?'

‘I cut out the dead wood and restructure the finances.'

‘Sounds simple.'

Matt thought of all the problems he'd already encountered in the short time he'd been here. ‘It isn't.'

‘How's it going?'

‘Slowly.'

‘How does it feel?'

‘Feel?'

Laura nodded, watched a frown appear on his forehead and felt him tense. Matt clearly didn't do feelings, at least not of the emotional kind. Well, that was tough, because she was on a roll, and frankly rather stunned by how much he'd divulged, even if it had been all fact based. No way was she giving up now.

‘How does what feel?' he muttered.

‘The king thing.'

‘It doesn't feel anything.'

Matt's expression shuttered but she carried on undeterred.

‘It must feel something,' she said cajolingly. ‘I don't know, exhilarating, nerve-racking, weighty… Maybe even a little bit scary?'

Matt regarded her thoughtfully, his eyes unfathomable as he appeared to analyse the emotions she'd listed. ‘I guess it's challenging,' he said eventually.

Challenging? ‘That's it?'

‘That's it.'

‘Oh.'

‘Don't sound so disappointed,' he said, a smile tugging at his mouth. ‘You know how much I like challenges.'

‘Oh, I do,' said Laura, her eyes darkening and her breathing shallowing for a second before she remembered what she was supposed to be doing and giving herself a quick shake. ‘So what have you done with your business?'

‘What do you mean?'

‘Well, presumably you can't run a business and run a country.'

‘I still have it. I've simply taken a step back.'

‘Until you decide what you want to do with it?'

‘Quite,' he said non-committally.

‘And what are you going to do about your house?'

‘Which one?'

‘How many do you have?'

‘A few.'

Naturally. ‘I mean the one in Little Somerford.'

‘I'm not going to do anything about it.'

‘Oh.' She frowned. ‘What?'

‘Well, I know it's your house and it's really none of my business, but it does seem a shame to leave such a lovely house empty and neglected.'

She felt his heart thump. ‘It's not neglected. A gardener goes in twice a week and I employ a part-time caretaker.'

‘OK,' said Laura, nibbling on her lip and ignoring the feeling she might be treading on eggshells. ‘Maybe neglected isn't quite the right word. Unloved would be better.'

‘Unloved?' He frowned. ‘It's a house. It doesn't need to be loved.'

She gasped and gave him a quick smile. ‘Wash your mouth out. All buildings deserve to be loved. How long have you had it?'

‘Eight years.'

‘And how much time have you spent there?'

‘Not a lot.'

‘That would explain the emotional neglect.'

His expression tightened. ‘I'm busy.'

‘That's no excuse.' Laura sniffed. ‘I bet you wouldn't let one of your businesses slide into neglect.'

‘True. But then I'm not looking to make a profit on the house.'

‘Just as well. You know,' she mused, ‘if I owned something like that I wouldn't be able to stay away.'

‘Unfortunately I don't have that luxury,' he murmured, his gaze dropping to her mouth.

‘It breaks my heart to see something like that drifting into decline. If you're not going to maintain it, and if you're hardly ever there, what's the point of having it?'

Matt lifted his gaze. ‘I like having it.'

Her eyes widened. ‘It's a status symbol?'

His eyes went bleak and Laura's heart squeezed. ‘If you like,' he said.

‘Oh, the poor thing,' she murmured. ‘No wonder it was so lonely.'

‘Lonely?' His tone suggested he thought she was nuts.

‘Yes, lonely. A house like that should be alive. Filled with laughter and activity and a family. There should be hordes of children running all over the place.'

He tensed and she sensed barriers springing up all around him. ‘Perhaps.'

‘Do you have any family?'

‘Not much. I'm an only child. My father died of cancer when I was sixteen. My mother lives in London.'

‘Don't
you
get lonely?'

He froze beneath her. ‘No,' he said gruffly. ‘I'm better off alone.'

Her chest tightened at the bleak look that haunted his eyes. ‘That's sad,' she said softly.

And then he rolled over, trapping her beneath him and Laura's heart began to thump and her breath began to quicken. ‘So make it better,' he muttered, lowering his head and covering her mouth with his.

 

Matt watched Laura sleeping. Stared at the fingers of moonlight turning her blond hair to silver and listened as her breath whispered across his chest.

And with every rise of her breasts, every fall, every soft breath he felt another tiny strand of his carefully controlled life unravel.

Dammit, how could he have been so careless? What was it about Laura that had him lowering his guard and revealing so much about himself like that?

He didn't do feelings. Hadn't done for years. He didn't need her making him question decisions he'd made years ago. So why was he?

Why did she have him suddenly doubting his role on Sassania? His belief he was better off alone? And what was all that nonsense about his house needing to be loved?

Matt's heart hardened and he told himself not to be so absurd. His role on Sassania was clear. He liked being alone. And just because he hadn't ever got round to sorting out the house he'd bought intending to live in it with a wife and family, it didn't mean anything.

Laura and her pseudo-psychiatry could take a hike. He really didn't need it. He was fine the way he was.

So why did he find himself wanting to tell her
more
?

Matt's heart thudded and his blood ran cold. Feeling highly unsettled, he eased himself from beneath her arm, swung his legs over the bed and got up. He pulled on his clothes and ran his hands through his hair.

Staring down at her as her mouth twitched in her sleep, he fought the urge to throw his clothes off and get back into bed with her, and picked up his shoes.

That kind of thinking led to madness.

He needed time to regroup. Regain some sort of control and decide what the hell to do about everything.

Work was the solution, he thought, heading to the door and sanity. Work was
always
the solution. And as neither Laura nor the attraction he seemed to have to her showed any signs of going away, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to put some physical distance between them.

There was bound to be a conference going on about something somewhere in the world.

 

Laura felt sunshine prick her eyes, gingerly opened them and then grinned and stretched.

Wow. What a night. Every muscle in her body ached with a delicious kind of languor. In between acquainting herself with every inch of him and vice versa she'd lost count of the number of orgasms she'd had.

But the spectacular sex aside, what was giving her an even warmer glow this morning was the fact that Matt had opened up. Just a crack, but far more than she'd thought he would have done.

OK, so she'd asked the questions, and he hadn't volunteered much that she hadn't asked, but to be honest she hadn't expected him to venture anything at all. But
he had and the balance in their relationship was definitely moving in her direction. Which was progress.

Laura froze mid-stretch and her heart lurched. Hang on a second? Progress? What was that all about? Since when had progress mattered? And since when did she and Matt have a relationship? The last thing she wanted was a relationship. She and Matt weren't about relationships and progress, were they? No. They were just about sex. With any luck lots of it.

In fact she might just remind him of that very thing right now.

Fizzing all over with desire, Laura rolled over, fully expecting to slam up against the hard warm naked body of Matt, but instead met nothing but cool air.

Oh. Desire vanished as she sat up and felt the pillow that still bore the indentation of his head. Cold. Hmm. So much for embarking on a raging affair right now. Matt's absence did not bode well for a long leisurely start to the day.

Nor did the note she suddenly spied on the bedside table. Clutching the sheet and wrapping it beneath her arms, she rolled over, picked it up and then fell back against the pillows.

Laura read the note twice. Not that she needed to when the message was perfectly clear, but the first time she'd got a bit distracted admiring his handwriting and remembering the feel of his hands on her body.

But when she read it a second time the bottom fell out of her stomach and disappointment flooded through her.

Gone to Athens? Laura didn't know what to think.
Matt hadn't mentioned anything about a trip so what on earth was he doing in Athens? Especially when they'd scheduled a meeting for this afternoon to discuss the budget for the restoration work.

And why hadn't he wanted to wake her? She wouldn't have minded. Surely he hadn't had to leave so suddenly there hadn't been time for a quick goodbye. Surely she was worth more than eight words, one apostrophe and two full stops.

And after what they'd shared she deserved a kiss at the very least.

Laura's throat tightened as the note slipped from her fingers and fluttered to the bed. That wasn't fair. She wasn't forgettable. She wasn't dispensable. And she wasn't going to have another man walk all over her.

S
O MUCH
for assuming that out of sight out of mind might actually work, thought Matt grimly, striding along the corridor to his suite and scowling. Attending the conference in Athens had been a complete waste of time in that respect.

From a professional point of view it couldn't have gone better. He'd networked, held discussions and drawn up agreements.

People had congratulated him on his new role and he'd been able to answer their questions about his plans for the country, for the first time feeling confident that he knew what he was talking about.

But while all that had been going on he hadn't been able to get Laura out of his head and it was driving him demented. Much more of this tension and this aching, this clawing kind of need, and he'd snap. He'd start making mistakes and the Sassanians would wonder what the hell they'd done in voting in favour of him to restore their battered country.

Maybe he should just give in and suggest a fling. A fling didn't mean a relationship, did it? A fling just meant lots of the mind-blowing sex he'd been missing and very little conversation.

Matt stalked into his dressing room, yanking his tie
off and undoing the top button of his shirt. He flung his jacket over the back of a chair and kicked off his shoes. A cold shower. That was what he needed. And then he'd seek her out, put his proposal to her and see what she had to say.

He undid the buttons of his shirt, tugged it from his trousers and marched through to his bedroom.

And stopped dead.

Laura was standing by the French doors that opened onto his private terrace, the sun streaming in behind her giving her a blazing kind of corona.

For a second Matt thought he was hallucinating. That somehow his feverish imagination was playing tricks on him.

But then she jumped, her gazed dipped to his bare chest and she let out a little gasp and from the heat that suddenly whipped through him Matt realised she was no hallucination.

Which, on reflection, was great. He was so hard it hurt. Whatever the reason she was in his bedroom, her timing couldn't be more perfect.

‘Good trip?' she said, the ice in her voice slamming a brake on his thoughts.

Hmm. Matt went still. Perhaps suggesting a fling at right this moment might not be wise. With the hostility rolling off her in his direction, he'd probably get a slap in the face.

‘Great,' he said, wondering why she was quite so frosty.

‘I'm so glad.'

‘What are you doing in my bedroom?'

‘Waiting for you. I heard you were back.'

‘I was just about to take a shower,' he said, taking his shirt off and seeing her little white teeth catch her lip.

‘Why did you leave without saying goodbye?'

That
was what the hostility was about? Matt rubbed his jaw. He'd left without saying goodbye because he hadn't been able to trust himself not to get all caught up again in the spell she'd woven over him. He'd done it for all the right reasons, but that didn't stop the trace of hurt in her voice making a stab of guilt dart through him.

‘Didn't you get my note?'

‘I did.'

Matt shoved the guilt aside. ‘That explained everything.'

‘Eight words, Matt. Eight words. After the night we shared do you really think they explained everything?'

Well, yes, he did. He couldn't have put it more simply. ‘I didn't want to wake you.'

‘I wouldn't have minded.'

But he would have.

‘You want to know what I think?' she said, tilting her head and shooting him a shrewd glance.

Not really. He had no intention of discussing his motives for hurtling off to Athens. ‘What?' he said, because she was probably going to tell him anyway.

‘I think you were avoiding me.'

The air in the room thickened. Grew warmer. Tighter. Matt's eyes narrowed. How had she managed to work that out? ‘Nonsense,' he said flatly.

‘Is it?'

‘Why would I be avoiding you?'

‘That's what I haven't been able to work out.'

Matt shrugged. ‘There's nothing to work out. The opportunity to attend the conference in Athens to discuss
alternative sources of energy simply cropped up at the last minute, that's all.'

‘That's what Antonio said. Very last minute apparently.'

‘It was important.'

‘More important than our meeting to discuss the cost of the work I'm doing?'

Ah. Matt went still. He was caught between a rock and a hard place. If he agreed, he'd upset her, and that wouldn't be conducive to persuading her to have a fling, but if he denied it then she'd really wonder why he'd gone.

‘You're right,' he said, deciding that focusing on her earlier concerns was his only way out. It had the added benefit of appeasing his conscience. ‘I should have said goodbye. I'm sorry I didn't.'

Laura frowned. ‘Waking up alone didn't feel nice. It made everything we'd done seem a bit sordid.'

God. Sordid was the last thing it had been. ‘I'm sorry,' he said again. ‘Anything I can do to remedy the situation just let me know.'

Laura nodded and bit her lip. ‘There is something you could do.'

‘What?'

She tilted her head and gave him a slow smile that had relief spinning through him and his heart hammering. ‘Give me my goodbye kiss now.'

Matt's body tightened with anticipation and lust. ‘I could do that. But I should warn you that it probably wouldn't stop there.'

Her eyes took on a sparkle that he felt in the pit of his stomach. ‘I was kind of counting on it.'

‘What were you thinking of?' He knew what he was thinking of.

‘Sex. Illicit sex. And lots of it. Without any strings attached whatsoever.'

Matt's pulse began to thunder. ‘Are you sure?' She really didn't seem the type.

‘I've never been surer of anything. With my relationship history I don't want strings and I don't want complications. A relationship is the last thing on the planet I need right now. I find them stifling and suffocating and I feel like I've just started to learn how to breathe. So all I want from you is multiple orgasms. What do you think?'

What did he think? His head was so fuzzy he could barely think at all. Because, God, she really was perfect. ‘I think it's an excellent idea,' he said hoarsely.

‘Good.' She gave him a sexy little smile that had lust pounding through him. ‘So about that shower you mentioned…'

 

It was a good thing Laura hadn't been planning to finish that sentence because as Matt suddenly sprang forwards and scooped her up in his arms her breath whooshed from her lungs and lust robbed her of the power of speech.

She'd taken such a gamble. Offering herself to him for nothing more than a fling like that. It was so reckless. So uncharacteristic. But she was sick of being sensible. She'd been there, done that, and had still ended up dumped and jobless and miserable.

And what was so awful about a fling anyway? She'd spent the entire week that Matt had been away thinking about it. Weighing up the pros and cons and driving herself to distraction with her endless analysis.

In the end she'd thought what the hell? A fling was
temporary. A fling was hot. Best of all a fling was not a relationship.

And now, thank God, it looked as if her gamble was about to pay off. In spades.

Wrapping her arms around Matt's neck, she clung on for dear life as he carried her across the room to the bathroom. His heart hammered against her shoulder. She could feel his muscles taut and tense and rippling with the effort of carrying her. Gazed at all that bare brown skin in such close proximity and couldn't resist planting a hot wet kiss to the pulse pounding at the base of his neck.

Matt swore softly and his arms tightened around her. A shudder ripped through her. She felt an answering one run through him. So she did it again.

He shoved a shoulder against the bathroom door and lowered her to her feet. Clamped one arm around her waist to keep her against him, and reached out with the other to switch on the shower.

Bringing his mouth down on hers, he unzipped her dress, slid the straps down her arms and it fell in a pool at her feet. Laura kicked it aside and grappled with his trousers. Matt unclipped her bra and it fell to the floor. And then off came knickers and shorts and he was backing her into the shower.

Laura gasped as needles of water hammered down over her, making her already highly sensitised skin tingle and fizzle even more. And then his mouth was on hers again and his hands were sliding over her back, up and down her sides and over her breasts.

He reached for the soap but she took it from him and gave him a tiny smile.

‘Let me. All that travelling must have been quite exhausting.'

‘It wasn't the travelling.'

‘You didn't really go all the way to Athens just to discuss alternative sources of energy, did you?'

‘No.'

Hah. She'd been so right. He
had
been avoiding her.

A flicker of amusement flared in his eyes. ‘I also discussed the possibility of raising finance via the issuance of government bonds.'

‘Oh.'

‘And if this is what I can expect on my return I must do it more often.'

If that was what he wanted to pretend, she was fine with that. Laura grinned. ‘Turn around.'

The flicker of amusement faded. ‘Only a fool would turn his back on such a dangerous smile.'

‘I'm only armed with shower gel. I'm hardly dangerous.'

‘You think?' he murmured.

A tiny crease appeared between his brows and she lifted a hand to smooth it away. ‘I promise I'll be gentle. Turn around.'

Matt's eyes glittered but he did as she asked and planted his hands high on the wall.

Faced with the sexiest back view she'd ever seen, Laura swallowed. She squeezed a ball of gel into her palms and then pressed her hands to his shoulders. Rubbing and squeezing and pressing, she massaged her way over his shoulders, down his back. Touching and exploring every inch of him, every dip, every contour.

She felt his skin tighten, felt his muscles clench as her hands moved over his body. The water cascaded down him, sending the suds rippling to the floor. As inch after inch of glorious back was revealed, Laura put her hands
on his arms and moved forwards so that her mouth could follow the same trail as her hands had just made.

Her breasts brushed against his back. She heard his sharp intake of breath, felt him brace himself. As desire began to whip through her Laura slid her hands down his sides, curved one round his waist and wrapped her fingers around the hard length of his erection.

His penis leapt beneath her touch, and as she started to move her hand along the length of him he let out a low groan. His great body shook as she explored him. She felt him shudder, heard his breathing roughen.

Removing her hand, she stood up on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear, ‘Turn around.'

‘If I do, I might not be responsible for the consequences.'

‘I'll take full responsibility,' she said huskily, moving back a little, giving him room to turn.

And then she gave him no room at all. Pushing him up against the glass wall, she began to kiss her way down his body. His skin twitched beneath her lips and when she knelt and took him in her mouth, he groaned.

‘God, Laura,' he said roughly as she ran her hands over his thighs.

His hands dug into her hair and she felt him shudder as she took him deeper. She heard him moan, curse softly, could sense the battle raging within him as he clung on to control.

She wanted him to lose it. She wanted him as desperate for her as she was for him. But then he was pulling her head back and hauling her to her feet and gathering her into his arms. ‘Enough,' he muttered, his eyes blazing into hers and making the desire swirling around inside her grow and spread and burn.

‘Not nearly,' Laura said, winding her arms around his
neck and kissing him fiercely as he switched the water off and lifted her into his arms.

But when
would
be enough?

The thought hammered in Matt's head as he strode to the bed with Laura curled in his arms. Because right now, with desire coursing through him, his head pounding and his entire body aching with need, he didn't think he'd ever get enough of her.

He lowered her onto the sheets and stared down at her for a second. Her lips were red and swollen from their kiss. Her eyes shone and the smile she was giving him made something in the region of his chest squeeze.

The blood rushing through his head, Matt sank onto the bed beside her. But as he rolled on top of her Laura wound her leg around his and rolled them over again so that she was on top of him.

‘Forget the travelling,' she said, giving him a demure little smile that made his stomach clench. ‘Carrying me all over the place must be utterly draining.'

‘You don't weigh much.'

She shrugged. ‘Indulge me. I've had plenty of opportunity to Embrace Confrontation and say no. But I think my “getting what I want” needs more work and right now I want you to just lie back and let me have my wicked way with you.'

Desire hammered through him. ‘Oh. Well, in that case, it would be churlish of me to interfere with your journey to self-discovery.'

‘Precisely.'

‘In fact you can practise on me all you like.'

‘You're too kind,' she said, lowering her head and brushing her lips against his. So tantalisingly brief Matt's heart practically stopped.

‘Not kind,' he muttered. ‘Totally selfish.'

Then she angled her head, set her lips to his and slipped her tongue into his mouth and his blood began to boil. Matt tangled his hand into her wet hair and swept the other down her back over her bottom to pull her tightly against him.

She went still for a second, moaned and then began to move. He felt himself growing harder against her. So hard he was hurting. Matt winced at the ferocity of the ache that gripped him.