Playing the Royal Game

He smelt so clean—he always had, this tangy citrus scent that only belonged to him, her private perfumery. She breathed in the scent she would crave for ever, the private scent of cologne and this man, the undressed aroma that teased in her nostrils and demanded a taste and a kiss on his chest.

And he could not pretend to be sleeping, as he held his breath as her hand slid down to his hardness, his moan confirmed what she knew and no, he could not wait.

He rolled on to her, took her mouth with his and kissed her as he never had, nor never would another. His hands roamed her body, the body that had roamed his mind and that led him to the sweet warm place that had been reserved for him, finding her smooth and oiled, tenderly he stroked her, his fingers moving in to gently stretch but Allegra did not want that.

‘You,’ she said. ‘I want you.’ And so badly he wanted her, too, that in answer his legs nudged her thighs apart.

‘I won’t hurt you,’ he said. ‘I’ll be slow.’

‘No,’ she said. ‘Don’t hold back.’ He was holding her, his face in her hair, her hands on his back, and she didn’t want slow and tender; she wanted the passion and pain that came with love. ‘We only get this moment once.’

And this moment was theirs and they shared it. He pressed into her and she accepted; he pierced her and he made her a lover and he captured her heart. It hurt and it was delicious, a unique hurt that he made that bonded her to him. And as she grew accustomed to the feel of him inside her, as she shivered with each measured stroke, she felt him try not to hasten, but her body accepted him now, moved with him now and willed him on to abandon.

‘Am I hurting you?’

‘No.’ She wanted every piece of him, wanted him rough and desperate for she was desperate with new sensations and so too was Alex. An emotional virgin; he lost it, too, that afternoon, because he went to a place where he had never been. He shared his heart and told her he loved her as he came; she wanted to stay in bed with him forever, did not want to dress, wanted to stay behind closed doors.

The phone shrilled by the bed—duty calling loudly, for no servant would dare enter on their wedding day.

‘Leave it,’ Alex said.

‘We’ll be late for our own wedding party.’

They would be, by the time they had bathed and hair and make-up was redone, Allegra was back in her wedding gown, Alex in his uniform. They were running a full thirty minutes behind schedule!

‘Your father will be having a fit.’

‘No.’ Alex frowned into his phone as he took a message from Matteo. ‘It would seem that my parents are running late too.’

And then he told her.

‘I read your book.’ He smiled and she blushed. ‘I gave it to my father to read too.’

‘Alex!’

‘I admire your father.’

‘Thank you,’ Allegra said, because it meant an awful lot to hear, and then she laughed. ‘Well, it’s lovely of you to say that, but I hope you don’t admire him for certain things. I want a very different husband....’

‘You’ve got one,’ Alex said, and she didn’t just believe him, she knew in her heart it was true. ‘But I have learnt from him and I hope my father does too. I will be a better father for reading your words, a better husband and a better prince.’ He took her arm and asked if she was ready.

‘Are you!’ Allegra asked. ‘The last party...’ She still blushed at the memory, as lovely as they were, her family truly could be shocking.

‘I’m looking forward to this one,’ Alex admitted; in fact, they both were.

It wasn’t out with the old; it was a welcome into the new.

He kissed his new bride and he told her.

‘I’m looking forward to life with you.’

EPILOGUE

‘ONE more!’ The photographer wasannoyingly insistent, and as she stood for one moreshot before she headed into the evening party, Allegra actually wanted to seethe photo in the morning, for surely she somehow looked different, surely itwould be obvious to the world what had just occurred—that the happy couple hadjust fallen in love? That her body still thrummed from his touch.