The Wedding Night They Never Had
PROLOGUE
PRINCE CASSIUSDE LEON, second in line to the throne of Aveiras, sat in his limo after a hard night’s partying and contemplated his choices. Outside, four women waited, all beautiful and all eager to be his companion for the night.
He wasn’t going to rush choosing one, however. He liked to take his time when it came to deciding on his bed partners, because there were many important things to take into account.
Would the delicious brunette with the hot, dark eyes turn out to be passionate or shy? Would the curvy redhead with the infectious smile let him lead the way? Perhaps the tall, Amazonian blonde would be more demanding than the other brunette, the one with the dirty laugh, but did he feel like ‘demanding’? Or did he want someone more low-key?
It was a difficult decision; he didn’t like to disappoint and someone was going to have to miss out. Though...maybe not. He could have all four. He was, after all, feeling quite energetic tonight.
At that moment, the door to the limo opened and a fairy got in.
Cassius blinked.
No, not a fairy, but a tiny, fragile-looking woman wearing the shortest, most clinging black mini-dress in the history of creation. She was very pale, with long, silvery white hair that hung to her waist, and she stared at him from under lids heavy with garish blue eyeshadow and lashes gone spidery with inexpertly applied mascara. Her eyes were a luminous grey and the biggest he’d ever seen.
He blinked again.
No, not a woman. A girl. A teenage girl.
Cassius frowned. What the hell was a teenage girl doing climbing into his limo? It wasn’t entirely unheard of, but his staff was usually better at weeding out people who shouldn’t be approaching him.
‘Your Highness,’ the girl said earnestly. ‘I’m sorry. I know this is quite rude, but...um...well... I really need you to ruin me.’
Cassius blinked a third time. ‘What?’
‘I need you to ruin me. Quite urgently, in fact. Tonight.’ She glanced nervously out the window. ‘Right now, if possible.’
It was true that his reputation as a notorious womaniser was well-earned and he was famous for never saying no to anything that might prove to be enjoyable. However, that did not extend to teenage girls. And, if this one thought he customarily ruined teenagers, then his reputation was even worse than he’d thought.
Won’t your father be proud?
Cassius did not appreciate this thought so he ignored it.
‘First things first,’ he said, giving her a narrow stare. ‘How old are you?’
‘Twenty.’ Her grey eyes shone. ‘I’m not a child.’
He sighed. ‘Of course you’re a child. And, sadly for you, I’m not a pervert. Get out of the limo, little one. I have actual women to see tonight.’
The sprite frowned then reached into the tiny silver mesh bag slung over one narrow shoulder, pulled out a pair of glasses, rubbed the lenses on her dress then put them on her pert nose.
‘Look,’ she said very seriously, ‘You don’t have to do anything to me. I only need everyone else to think that you have.’
Cassius knew he should open the limo door and get one of his guards to get rid of her, and he couldn’t think why he wasn’t doing so now, especially when he had several delicious beauties all ready and waiting for the crook of his finger. But he was curious about, not to mention intrigued by, her boldness. It took guts to climb into the limo of a prince of Aveiras, automatically assuming he wouldn’t simply throw her out.
He stretched out his legs and shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘I assume you’re going to tell me why you need everyone to think I’ve taken a sudden liking to teenagers?’
Her forehead creased. ‘I’m not a teenager. Anyway, the reason is that my parents want me to marry this horrible, abusive man. But, if word gets out that I’ve spent the night with Prince Cassius, he’ll know I’m not a virgin any more and he won’t want me.’
Cassius waited for her to offer more, but she didn’t. So he opened his mouth to issue a gentle but firm refusal when she added, ‘The man is Stefano Castelli.’
Cassius closed his mouth.
Stefano Castelli was the head of one of the old aristocratic families. He was fifty if he was a day, childless since his wife had died some years before, and he’d made no secret of the fact that he was in the market for a new wife to deliver him heirs. What he did keep secret was the rumours of his...unorthodox sexual tastes. The man was a monster and, if this child was given to him in marriage, she wouldn’t stay a child much longer.
‘What’s your name?’ he asked, curious, because if an arranged marriage was on the cards she must come from one of Aveiras’s aristocratic families.