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But Nicolas wasn’t ready to walk away, not quite yet.
He also got to his feet, then touched her elbow, stroking the satin fabric of her sleeve. “I could stay,” he whispered smoothly, seductively. “Make sure the rest of your evening is both restful and enjoyable. Infinitely enjoyable.”
The spark in her eyes let him know he’d overstepped his bounds. She shrugged out of his hold and moved passed him. Wrenching open the door, she stood back, body rigid, and glared.
“Good night, Your Highness,” she said, her tone only a shade shy of disrespectful.
If he weren’t such a patient man, intent on his goal, he might have taken exception.
But he was a patient man, and he knew that pushing Alandra was not the way to win her over, not the way to lure her into his bed. Better to take things slowly, to woo and seduce her properly.
“I’ll see you in the morning, then,” he said politely, moving to stand before her, giving no indication that her attitude or demands disturbed him in the least.
Though she remained stiff, he took her hand and lifted it to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss to the back of it.
“Thank you for being such a lovely dinner companion, and for all of your hard work on behalf of the children’s home. I knew bringing you here was the right thing to do.”
With a swift grin, he left the room and strode casually down the hall. A few seconds later, he heard her door close with a slam, and his smile widened.
Alandra Sanchez was a fiery, passionate woman with a temper to match. She thought she was brushing him off, holding him at bay, but her reluctance merely intrigued him all the more.
For the next two weeks, Alandra did her best to avoid Nicolas whenever she could, and treat him with cool professionalism whenever she couldn’t.
Nicolas, meanwhile, did his best to get her alone as often as possible, to touch her hand, her arm, her cheek on a regular basis, and to romance her into letting down her guard and inviting him into her bed.
So far, she’d remained firm in her commitment not to be seduced. But she had to admit, at least to herself, that it had been no simple feat.
Nicolas was nearly irresistible. He was attractive and charming, and if he hadn’t approached her to sleep with him before getting to know her—which she found gallingly arrogant—she very well might have fallen into bed with him by now.
Sad but true, and rather ironic. If he’d gone about courting her in a more traditional manner, he’d have likely gotten lucky.
Alandra might be considered beautiful by many—a fact of life that was sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse for her—but she was anything but compliant.
And then there was the continued guilt and humiliation over the scandal that still clung to her name back in Texas.
She’d phoned home numerous times since arriving in Glendovia, and each time she’d asked her sister about the scandal she’d been running away from. Elena had admitted that people were still talking, but the reporters had finally stopped camping out at the house.
But even though the attention had died down, Alandra knew she’d been right to leave town when she had. She was also even more determined never to leave herself open to disgrace again.
She reminded herself of this, firmly and repeatedly, as she made her way down to the foyer.
In the time she’d been a guest of the royal family, the palace’s decor had gone from tidily opulent to brimming with holiday cheer.
The banister had been strung with long, twisting garlands of holly and ivy. Giant wreaths hung on both the outside and inside of all the main doors. And in the center of the foyer was a towering evergreen tree, covered with gold ornaments. A golden angel perched gloriously at the very top.
The holiday decorations were helping Alandra feel more at home. She missed her family terribly, and it broke her heart to think that she wouldn’t be spending Christmas with them. But she found it soothing to be surrounded by all this cheer.
She was smiling when she reached the front door, where Nicolas was waiting. Tonight was the Evening with Santa event at the children’s home, and he had insisted on accompanying her, despite the fact that she had to be there early. The rest of the royal family would arrive later.
Even Nicolas’s mother, Queen Eleanor, had reluctantly approved of Alandra’s efforts to aid the local orphanage. She hadn’t come right out and complimented her on all of her hard work, or changed her attitude, but the few remarks she’d made about tonight’s event had been mainly positive.
Alandra didn’t let it go to her head. She knew the queen still disapproved of her.
As soon as she drew close, Nicolas took her elbow, offering a small smile. He was dressed in his princely finery, complete with a red sash running from shoulder to hip, and a number of important-looking medals pinned to his chest.
Alandra’s dress was a sumptuous red velvet gown that hugged her curves and left her shoulders and arms bare. She wore classic, understated diamonds at her ears and throat.
“Shall we go?” Nicolas asked, and escorted her out of the palace into the slightly chilly evening air. It wasn’t yet dark, but the sun was setting and dusk was well under way.
She had purposely scheduled tonight’s affair so that it could be both a fun party for the children and an opportunity for the adult guests to mingle. Especially since she had invited some very wealthy, influential individuals, whom she hoped would make generous donations.
When Alandra and Nicolas arrived, a crowd of photographers was already gathered outside the orphanage, snapping pictures. Inside, the home was decorated festively. There was a tree in the main entranceway, covered with ornaments handmade by the children. Holiday music filled the air.
After Alandra settled a few last-minute issues, she started mingling with the arriving guests.
The appearance of the rest of the royal family caused quite a stir. Voices hushed, heads turned and people stood frozen as they watched the king and queen.
Leaving Nicolas with his family, Alandra made her way to the other rooms. She began wandering around, double-checking that everything was running properly.
All in all, it looked as though the evening was progressing perfectly. She released a sigh, praying no accidents or crises cropped up to mar an otherwise successful occasion.
Turning back to survey the reception area, she immediately spotted Nicolas striding toward her. Tall and imposing, he seemed to tower over the crowd.
The air caught in her chest. She would have liked to blame her sudden inability to breathe on the tightness of her form-fitting dress, but knew it was all due to Nicolas.
Nicolas, who could stop her heart with a glance.
Nicolas, who made her palms damp and her stomach quiver.
Nicolas, who made her want to rethink her decision not to get any closer to him than necessary during her stay.
Be strong, she told herself, swallowing hard and making a concerted effort to keep her knees from quaking as he came closer.
When he reached her, he gave a small bow and took her hand, his eyes holding hers the entire time.
“Dance with me,” he murmured softly.
His tone and princely manner made it more of a command than a request, but she did her best to argue. “I don’t think Christmas music is exactly conducive to dancing,” she said, glancing about the room. Although there were several couples taking the floor.
“Of course it is.”
He tipped his head, as though paying extra attention to the slow strains of a holiday classic. Tightening his grasp, he tugged her behind him as he headed to the clear space at the center.
“Besides, it’s my royal duty to set a good example for others, and we want everyone to enjoy themselves, don’t we? Isn’t that your goal, so that guests will feel more generous when it comes time to start writing checks?”
She could tell from his expression that he was taking pleasure in teasing her, tossing her own ambition back at her in an attempt to get what he wanted. His lips twitched and the corners of his eyes crinkled as he tried to keep his amusement in check.
She might have continued protesting, but it was too late. They had reached a small empty stretch of the hardwood floor, and Nicolas had his arm around her waist, pulling her against him.
He splayed his fingers at the small of her back, holding her in place and guiding her as they swayed in small circles. And just as he’d predicted, others began to follow their lead and joined them, dancing to the holiday carols being piped through the building.
This hadn’t been part of her plans for the evening, but it did seem to be having a positive effect. Alandra hoped Nicolas didn’t notice, or she might have to swallow her pride and tell him he’d been right.
The song came to an end and they stopped moving, but instead of releasing her, he continued to hold her, staring down into her eyes until her mouth went dry and butterflies decided to take up tap dancing in her belly. Her chest was too tight to draw a full breath, which made her head begin to spin.
She thought, for a brief moment, that he was going to kiss her. Right there, in the middle of a roomful of people.
And she was chagrined to realize that her mouth had opened slightly, that she was both anticipating the kiss and looking forward to it. Yearning for it, even.
With his gaze still locked on hers, he leaned in another inch, until she could feel his warm breath dancing across her skin.
“I can’t kiss you here and now, the way I’d like, but I promise to rectify that before the night is through.” His voice was low and mesmerizing, washing over her.
Dropping his hand from her waist, he smiled, gave a small bow and then turned and walked away, as though he hadn’t just set every nerve ending in her body on high alert.
She watched him go, trying to regain control of her senses. And control of her limbs, which seemed incapable of movement, even as she struggled to get her brain to send the correct signals.
It wasn’t until she noticed people beginning to stare that she shook off whatever spell had overtaken her, and was able to take step after measured step to the refreshment table. She poured herself a glass of punch and drank it down in nearly a single gulp.
This was bad, so very bad. He was wearing her down, eroding the last of her defenses.
She was very much afraid that she wouldn’t be able to evade him for much longer.
Eight
It was late by the time the evening wound to a close, but as Alandra watched the guests filing out, she was delighted to see that the majority of them had smiles on their faces. Better yet, Mrs. Vincenza had happily reported that she’d received several generous contributions throughout the night, with promises of more to come.
Watching Santa Claus hand out presents to the children had obviously turned a number of hearts—exactly what Alandra had been hoping for. She’d seen more than a few eyes turn misty during the gift-giving ceremony, and many follow the children out of the room and up the stairs at bedtime.
While it hadn’t been her main goal, Alandra hoped that tonight’s event would result in some much-needed adoptions, as well as added donations.
Stifling a yawn behind her small clutch purse, she watched the door close behind the last guest a moment before she felt Nicolas come to stand beside her.
Although she wasn’t surprised that she could sense his presence even before she saw him, it did disturb her. She didn’t want to sense him. Didn’t want to believe that they might be growing that close in such a short time, especially when she’d spent most of the last three weeks avoiding him.
Not that she’d been terribly successful. Nicolas, she was learning, had a way of being everywhere she was, whether she wanted him there or not.
She had to admit, though, that he’d been a definite asset this evening. Not only had he gotten everyone in the room to relax enough to dance to Christmas music, but he’d spent the rest of the night circulating through the crowd to shake hands, kiss cheeks and talk up the orphanage as an extremely worthy charity—or write-off, depending on who he was conversing with.
And she admired him for it. For caring about the children’s home and about what he could do to make the fund-raiser a success.
Glendovia was his country, and she had been hired to do a job for it. But he seemed to know that she took her work of organizing charitable events and raising funds for worthy causes very, very seriously. Seemed to know…and in his own way, care.
That touched Alandra more than a dozen roses, a hundred glasses of champagne or a thousand romantic dates ever could have.
He might have taken a wrong first step with her by inviting her into his bed before even getting to know her, but he had taken a few right steps since. Redeeming right steps.
When he took her elbow now, she felt a familiar tingle in every millimeter of skin his fingers came in contact with.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
She nodded and let Nicolas adjust her wrap around her shoulders before guiding her outside and into the waiting limousine.
Despite the late hour, there were still plenty of paparazzi gathered to snap more pictures upon the royal family’s departure. The camera flashes burned her eyes and blinded her vision. She was only too happy to have the car door slam behind her, blocking out the pesky photographers.
When they arrived home, the family said their good-nights before heading for their respective bedchambers. Alandra wished them all a good night, as well, before turning toward her own rooms.
“I’ll walk with you,” Nicolas said, catching up with her and once again slipping her arm through his.
She started to tell him it wasn’t necessary, but thought better of it with his parents and siblings still within earshot. Instead, she inclined her head, tightened her hold on his arm and murmured, “Thank you.”
They walked to her suite without speaking, and she was surprised to find it a comfortable silence. Perhaps because it had been such a long and busy day, and she was too tired to worry about what she should be saying or doing. She couldn’t find it in her to be concerned about what Nicolas might say or do, either.
When they arrived, he opened the door, then stood back for her to enter. Crossing the dark sitting room, she turned on a small table lamp, which bathed the space in a yellow-gold light.
Alandra straightened and turned, and nearly bumped into Nicolas, who had followed her silently and was standing mere inches away. For a moment, her mind went blank. Her breath hitched and her heart leaped at finding him so near.
She swallowed nervously and opened her mouth to speak, though she didn’t have a clue what she planned to say.
Not that it mattered. Before she could utter a sound or get her brain to function properly, Nicolas had lifted a hand to the back of her neck and threaded his fingers into the loose hair at her nape. He tugged her forward, and she went easily, willingly, like a puppet on a string.
Their eyes met, and in that brief second, she saw passion and fire and desire. Those same emotions caused her stomach to tumble to her toes, and made her feel suddenly light-headed.
Then he bent and lowered his mouth to hers.
The minute their lips met the earth seemed to rock on its axis. Alandra had never felt such heat, such electricity, such an amazing and overwhelming need.
Nicolas’s fingers at her nape tightened, while his other hand grasped her hip. Her own hands were on his shoulders, gripping and clawing. She couldn’t seem to get close enough.
His scent filled her nostrils, spicy and masculine. As his tongue swept through her mouth, he tasted the same.
She kissed him back with equal fervor, delighting in the way contact with him flooded her senses.
Just when she thought she might expire from pleasure, Nicolas broke the kiss. “Say no,” he whispered raggedly against her lips. “Tell me to go. Tell me you don’t want this.”
He kissed her again, hard and swiftly. “Go ahead, Alandra,” he taunted softly, “tell me.”
She knew what he was doing. He was challenging her to stick to her declaration that she wouldn’t sleep with him during her visit. That she wouldn’t allow herself to be seduced.
But, God help her, she couldn’t. She wanted him too much to deny it any longer.
To deny him.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed her mouth to his. The same smoldering heat washed over her again and, with a sigh, she whispered, “Don’t stop. Don’t go. I do want this.”
She expected him to smile—a cocky, self-important response to show her he’d known all along he would win their little cat-and-mouse game.
But he didn’t smile. Instead, his eyes flashed with fire, a second before narrowing dangerously.
