The Prince in the Royal Suite

‘It’s your turn,’ Lucaj decreed, and as he did his sexy smile thing, she realised that if his mouth hadn’t been quite so attractive, or his eyes so full of humour and warmth –

She would still be sitting astride him, holding on to the brass bed frame as Lucaj cupped her buttocks in his big, strong hands to ease her slowly up and down.

And now it was Libby’s turn to throw her head back and allow the intensity of the pleasure to suffuse every inch of her body, leaving her mind in a happy, hungry state, confident of a regular diet of pleasure.

And the best of it was, when they were briefly exhausted at some point in the night, Lucaj didn’t just turn over and go to sleep, he brought her into his arms and lay talking with her. But that had a downside too, because what had started as an erotic adventure for a girl who had never bucked the traces in her life, had become something so much more. Lucaj had made her long for things she couldn’t have – like Lucaj. Tomorrow they’d go their separate ways – Libby to Monte Carlo to join up with Lucinda and the harem, and Lucaj to places unknown. And why would he share his itinerary with his one-night stand? She had to be grown up about this. She’d walked into this situation with her eyes wide open, and now she had to shoulder the fall-out and move on.

But with some great memories, Libby consoled herself as she snuggled into Lucaj’s powerful chest, though he’d set a standard that meant she would never find another man to match him.

Chapter Eight

‘So, tell me about you,’ she prompted him.

‘Me?’ Lucaj sounded surprised.

‘I mean the you that doesn’t get written about in the magazines.’

‘There’s nothing much to tell.’

‘I’m sure that’s not true. Stretching her limbs like a lazy cat, she shifted position comfortably in his arms. ‘There must be loads of stuff about you that the world doesn’t know that you can tell me. I’m not asking for you to be indiscreet, or for you to tell me anything you don’t want to. I’m just trying to get a clearer picture of the man I find myself in bed with. Lucaj as a little boy, for instance…’

‘I was a tearaway,’ he said dismissively. ‘You don’t want to hear about that.’

‘Were you happy?’

‘Completely. I had an idyllic childhood – no skeletons there.’

‘Brothers and sisters?’

‘No. I was the adored only child. But I’m more interested in you – why the lack of confidence? Why don’t you have a steady boyfriend? There must be someone waiting for you in the wings?’

‘Whoah, whoah, whoah.’ She raised her head to look at him. ‘Stop right there. You’re cheating. That’s three questions.’

Lucaj dipped his head to stare into her eyes. ‘Not cheating. Just genuinely interested.’

She settled down again, realising she could confide in Lucaj. She’d never felt she could do that with anyone before, except for Lucinda.

This must be what it’s like to be on honeymoon, Libby mused; this closeness, this affection; this intense awareness of each other, far above and beyond the sex.

‘I’m listening,’ he prompted.

‘I haven’t been so lucky in the romance stakes,’ Libby admitted ruefully. ‘I had a painful experience when I thought I was in love, and then I realised I’d been pigeon-holed as general dogsbody, housekeeper and PA. Anyway, it didn’t work out.’

‘So why do you do these same things for your cousin?’

‘Because I love Lucinda,’ she said as if that were obvious.

‘You mentioned that before, but I don’t see gofer as a career path. What will you do when Lucinda gets married, for instance?’

Fortunately, she’d already thought this through. ‘I’m going to set up a concierge service.’

Clearly surprised, Lucaj laughed. ‘I’d back you.’

‘Actually, I wasn’t joking, so you might want to rethink that statement.’

‘No,’ he said. ‘I’ve seen you in action, remember? At the front desk? Firm but fair. I think you’d be a great success after a few years, running a business like that.’

‘So, what about you? No girlfriend?’