Maharaja's Mistress

‘Stay, Mia.’

‘What do you think I am—a dog?’

‘I’ll send the steward.’

She gave chase. ‘What things do you have to do, Ram? You were ready to take me back to shore in the helicopter a moment ago.’

‘Yes, I was, but you made that unnecessary—and now it’s too late.’

She hung on to his arm like a terrier to a bone. ‘The least you can do is talk to me—tell me where we’re going.’

‘I’m taking you somewhere you always wanted to go.’

Ramprakesh?

‘Tell me,’ Mia insisted as the land of her dreams took shape in her mind. Ram’s homeland had always conjured up images of palaces and fireworks and elephants—and hellishly good-looking princes called Ram—

By this time Ram was halfway down the stairs and she surprised herself with just how fast she could fly down a flight of stairs. ‘Why?’ she demanded, leaping ahead of him. ‘Why have you done all this?’

‘Because the time is right and because I might need you again.’

She didn’t like the sound of that. ‘So you think I might be useful to you?’ The kiss must have been a try-out that left him cold—a ruse to distract her while the yacht slipped out of its berth. And that hurt.

‘Being useful is bad?’ he said, lips pressing down as if he couldn’t work that one out.

‘No. It isn’t bad—but when you want someone to do something for you, it’s usual to ask them first rather than assume they’ll fall into line.’

He thought about that for a nanosecond. ‘No time,’ he said. ‘Some things just have to be executed and then discussed later.’

‘I’m not a thing, Ram.’

His brows rose as if he were surprised at that.

She gave up. ‘You’re impossible.’

‘So I’ve been told,’ he agreed. ‘But I am serious about having a design job I think you might be interested in—and you could start by taking a look around this overstuffed wedding cake—’

‘You don’t like the décor on the yacht?’

‘What do you think?’

There was still a glimmer of the old Ram there. No reason to go easy on him, though. ‘You didn’t have to kidnap me to get my thoughts on your yacht.’

‘I’ll ignore the dramatic flourish. Firstly, I didn’t kidnap you—you came onboard of your own accord. And secondly, you can of course sulk for the entire voyage, but I wouldn’t recommend it.’

Mia ground her jaw. It had been too long since she had played this type of mind game with Ram—she was a little rusty. But Ram and Ramprakesh—not to mention that promise to meet with his design team. Was she going to cut off her nose to spite her face and give the plastic surgeon another headache? ‘I’ll do it,’ she agreed. ‘I’ll take a look round your yacht—but only on my terms.’

‘Which are?’

‘You treat me with respect and pay the going rate—as an interior designer,’ she added hurriedly before he could get any other ideas. ‘I’ll look at the project first and then I’ll decide if I want to become involved.’

‘Okay.’

Okay? That was it? Mia blinked. But then her mind cleared and she realised that back in Monte Carlo Ram had asked her why her design career had gone up in smoke, and instead of making fun of her for losing her confidence he had done this. And as much as she wanted to yell at him for manipulating her, she couldn’t help but be a little bit thrilled that life and Ram had finally given her the challenge she had been looking for. This might even work out—just so long as she kept everything in proportion and accepted this was Ram helping a childhood friend out of a hole and nothing more.

So, her decision was made—there was nothing to stop her dipping her toe in the water—

Her toe? Heck, this was full naked-body immersion, Mia realised, seeing Ram’s lips tug with satisfaction as he walked away. She only had to touch her own lips and feel how swollen they were to know how far out of her depth she was. Ram was certainly determined to take her on a voyage of discovery.

But he was also giving her the chance to pick up the pieces of the career she had loved…

‘Mademoiselle?’ A steward dressed in immaculate whites distracted her. ‘May I show you to your quarters, mademoiselle?’

Why not? In for a penny, in for a few billion pounds…‘Thank you,’ she said, smiling wryly as he led the way.

Oh, this was fabulous.

How easily she was bought, Mia reflected as she followed the steward down one gilt-bedecked corridor after another. But, although the decoration was vibrant and luxurious, it was all a bit over the top. She could see why Ram had fed her the bait. His yacht was huge and equipped with all the latest high-tech equipment, but the interior design was more suitable for his parents’ generation. If he was serious about combining stewardship of a country with his business interests, then Ram needed to showcase not just his country’s traditional wares, but the latest innovations too. Given half a chance she would encourage new young Ramprakeshi designers to submit their products for his consideration.

Oh, how she wanted this brief, Mia mused, soaking in every bit of information she could as she looked around. She had never seen so many priceless artefacts and paintings outside a museum, and it came home to her then that, although everyone thought they knew Ram, few had seen him as she had—relaxed, approachable, humorous, sexy. They just saw what he was worth and drew their own conclusions about what he would want around him.

Ram hadn’t just come back into her world; he’d turned that world on its axis, Mia realised. And as for The Kiss…kisses, kissing…She touched her eyepatch. However brave she appeared there was always part of her that thought people—especially men—found her injuries off-putting, but not only had Ram proved that wasn’t the case as far as he was concerned, but he didn’t make allowances for them either, which she liked. She didn’t want to be treated like an invalid, or an object of pity. So for all the black strikes against him, he had earned quite a few brownie points too.

‘Am I alone on this corridor?’ she asked as the steward stopped by one particular door. It was too much to hope Ram would be next door—and, of course, she didn’t want that anyway. She was just…well—getting her bearings.

‘The master has a suite of rooms on another level, mademoiselle.’

‘Up or down?’

‘Directly behind the bridge, mademoiselle.’

Okay, so not that close. She breathed a sigh of relief.

As the steward held the door open she completely forgot how mad Ram could make her. The accommodation she had been allocated took her breath away. This was luxury on an unprecedented scale.

‘There’s more, mademoiselle,’ the steward prompted her as she stood gaping at the door.

‘More?’ She sounded like a child at Christmas, hardly knowing which gift to open first. Forget the granny curtains and the quilted shiny satin throws—there were floor-to-ceiling windows and enough space to fit three apartments the same size as the one she shared with the girls. And at least the bed, with its silken drapes, tented canopy, tassels, fringes and assorted twinkles, boasted crisp white linen sheets, and a most inviting bank of pillows…

She touched her lips—still swollen…still tingling with the memory of Ram’s kisses…

‘Would you like me to show you round, mademoiselle?’

She started guiltily as the steward coughed politely. ‘Yes, please,’ she managed faintly, dragging her gaze away from the emperor-sized bed.

The furniture was all hand-carved and polished with precious inlays of ebony and semi-precious stones—and, as she’d thought, the steward confirmed that the handles had all been cast

in solid gold. ‘Oh, yes, very nice,’ she said politely, thinking Ram would prefer something funky and that most of these things should be in a museum.

‘Would you like me to show you the rest of the suite, mademoiselle…?’

‘I’ll find my way around, thank you’ she said with a smile. She was dying to be alone to do some serious thinking, but first there was more investigating to do…

There was a pink marble bathroom where a bleached blonde Barbie doll would be right at home—and a fully fitted dressing room that would fulfil the dreams of the most impossibly spoiled celebrity. The square bath was big enough for four. And as for the walk-in drench shower…

Well, that was definitely big enough for…

Activities, Mia decided, poking her head around the corner to size it up. Activities she could only dream about indulging in with Ram—

Activities she definitely wouldn’t be indulging in, Mia informed herself firmly.

Unfortunately, that self-imposed ban wasn’t enough to stop her imagination conjuring up a few heart-stopping scenes. To stop them dead she turned full circle slowly, concentrating her mind solely on her thoughts as an interior designer—Ram had switched a light on in her brain, and now she found it impossible to look at a single object or paint shade without giving it a professional review.

She had Ram to thank for throwing her back into that world of breaking boundaries and thinking outside the box. Nothing about this visit was accidental, Mia concluded. Ram knew her life before the accident had drawn its oxygen from design, but she mustn’t mistake his concern for anything else.

There were some things she would like to keep—this crimson, tangerine and fuchsia decoration in the dining room, for instance, where the colours had been allowed to clash in such a strange and fabulous way. This was a whole new language of design, and one she could use to embellish her contemporary take on things. Opening the sliding glass door, she moved outside onto the balcony with its wooden decking. It was still quite warm outside. Looking back into the dining room, she knew it would be flooded with light in the morning, but she would prefer to eat breakfast out here, and dream about Ram—