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A steep hill rose beyond the lake bordering the back of the royal estate. It led to vineyards and ultimately the forested slopes of the mountains overlooking the magnificent Rhine Valley.
By the time the three of them dismounted to rest and take in the view, euphoria had overtaken Darrell.
During the climb, Alex had put Phillip to work checking the riverbank for signs of dead fish, which he explained was a problem in the lower Ungadine called Whirling disease. His minister of fisheries was working with some biologists to eradicate it.
Phillip thought the term “whirling” was too funny, but he took his father’s suggestion seriously. Already Alex was making his son feel important. He managed him without dictating. Phillip had never been more pleasant or well behaved.
While she wandered around stretching her legs, Alex tied up the horses. She hadn’t ridden one in years. At the end of the day she would be sore, but the glorious ride had been worth it.
Phillip didn’t seem to have the same problem, lucky boy.
“Dad? Have you ever climbed up to that ridge?”
“Many times.”
“With my grandpa?”
“No. He was always too busy.”
“How come he was so mean?”
“Not mean, Phillip. It’s just that when he pledged to serve the people of our country, he meant it. You have to understand he represented the House of Valleder. It has reigned over this canton for centuries.
“The castle here in Bris has been our ancestral home since the Middle Ages. Father never forgot his duty for a minute.”
Darrell could hear her son’s mind taking it all in.
“How long was he king?”
“Thirty years before he died of a heart attack.”
“I bet you miss him a lot.”
“The whole family does.”
Following his father’s soulful remark Phillip eyed him with a distinct glint.
“What do you bet I can climb to the top of that ridge and back in half an hour.”
“I used to make that trip in twenty minutes,” Alex said with a deadpan expression.
Phillip let out a whoop. “You’re on!” He high-fived his dad before taking off. Pretty soon he’d disappeared in the pines.
Alex put a booted foot on the log, turning to Darrell with one of those white smiles that melted her insides.
He looked happy.
In jeans and a navy pullover, he was jaw-dropping gorgeous.
There wasn’t another man to equal him.
This must have been the way Melissa felt when she’d gone to that bar with him years ago. No woman would be able to resist an invitation to join him in his sleeping bag. Darrell took back everything she’d ever said to her sister about not having shown more sense.
“I’m sure it isn’t really possible to imagine your life if you weren’t raised to be a king, but I’m curious to know what you think you might have done with your life if you’d been born as say…Alex Smith.”
He leaned on his knee with one arm. “That’s easy to answer. I would have worked in counterespionage developing various codes no enemy could crack.”
“How fascinating! I remember the story of the Wind Talkers who were Navajo military men used during the war. No one could break their code.”
“Exactly. We speak a lot of languages here in Switzerland, and each one has its different dialects depending on the region or valley. The Romanche dialects are complex and fascinating to me, as is the Navajo language you were referring to.”
“Phillip has a lot to learn.”
“Hopefully he’ll want to. Our language will be lost if we don’t endeavor to keep it unified and used. When I wasn’t busy with some regimen or other, I began making my own dictionary of Romanche words and idioms, incorporating the dialects.
“On mountain hikes I always carry a notebook with me in case I meet a fellow countryman who could give me a new word here or there to add to my collection.”
“You’re a very brilliant man. Phillip’s in awe of you.”
“My father was the brilliant one,” he informed her. “He was first to introduce a program at the university in Bris to get as much information as we can from the old people still living within the canton. Once they’re gone, any knowledge they have will die with them. I’d hate to see Romanche go by the wayside.”
“Thank goodness for a sovereign like you who cares enough to preserve your heritage,” she said emotionally.
He moved closer to her. “The main reason I spent time in Arizona was to visit some Navajo reservations and see how they preserve their dialects and gather information. But I must admit the idea of being a secret agent has headed the top of my list for a profession.”
His eyes narrowed on her face. “What about you? If there’d been no Phillip, what would you have done?”
“That’s an easy question to answer, too. My grandmother never did have very good health. I probably would have tried to get into medical school somewhere. Maybe become an internist. But like you, I had other responsibilities that pretty well grounded me to one place and one priority.”
“I’m assuming you’re the one who chose to stay home with your grandmother while your sister went to work at the dude ranch.”
“Yes, but in all fairness to Melissa, she waited on my grandmother, too. Though I worried about her, I was glad she could get away to do something she thought would be fun. Her best friend’s uncle had horses, so she went riding a lot. The dude ranch was the perfect place for her, and it paid a good salary.”
But Melissa had ended up taking on more than she could handle when she’d met Alex.
Darrell wouldn’t have been able to forget him, either. Her desire for him had already become so acute, it was a full-grown pain only he could assuage. Yet to even entertain thoughts of him was taboo.
A relationship with the king of Valleder wasn’t possible, not on any level. Melissa’s brief interlude with him had been one of those fantastic accidents in life that had defied the odds.
To stand around alone with him any longer pretending she didn’t have feelings for him wasn’t only ridiculous, it was unbearable. Finally she made the decision to separate herself from him. There was only one way to do it.
After loosening the reins around the tree trunk, she climbed back on the surefooted mare Alex had chosen for her.
In a few swift strides he closed in on her. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m going to see if I can beat you and Phillip back to the stable.”
His features tautened visibly. “Why?”
Don’t ask me that question.
“Our son loves competition. For once I’d like to be the one to give him a run for his money.”
“Surely not at the expense of a broken neck.”
She frowned. “Am I such a lame rider?”
“Anyone can have an accident. While you’re my guest, I prefer to keep you safe.”
So saying he reached for her, pulling her off the horse before she was ready.
The momentum brought their bodies together. Helplessly she slid down his powerful physique until her feet touched the ground.
The incredible sensation caused a gasp to escape her lips. Their eyes met by accident. His blazed a hot green.
“Alex—” she whispered mindlessly, caught in a sensuous thrall where the world seemed far removed from them at this moment.
An answering moan came from his throat before his mouth closed over hers with a kind of refined savagery she would never have suspected.
She kept telling herself this couldn’t be happening. Not possibly.
Like a drowning person going under for the third time, her life flashed before her. She thought of all the reasons why this was wrong—out of the question…
He was going to be a married man within a few weeks.
But the rightness of being in his arms, the feeling that they were two halves of a whole transcended every moral objection. Fused to him like this, everything changed.
She didn’t need his hand at her waist crushing her to him because she molded herself to him of her own free will, wanting to merge with him.
His other hand cradled the back of her head, the better for their mouths to savor the intoxicating elixir while they slowly began to devour each other. Their mutual hunger wasn’t some vain imagination. It was a kind of craving she’d never known in her life, like a force beyond herself that wanted, needed everything this man had to give.
Every kiss he gave her went deeper and longer, driving her wild with desire. The increasing urgency of his demand set off an explosion of need inside her.
Feverish with longings her arms slid around his waist and she found herself melded to every hard line and sinew. All she kept praying was don’t stop this ecstasy, don’t ever stop.
Her legs grew heavy. Her palms throbbed with pains brought on by too much pleasure. His mouth was driving her mad with the things he was doing to her.
“I’m back!” shouted a voice in the distance.
Both of them groaned before she cried, “What if he’s seen us?” In panic Darrell tore her lips from his and jerked away from those strong arms holding her possessively.
The motion made her dizzy. He steadied her swaying motion.
“Are you all right?” he whispered.
“Y-yes. You go to him.”
Alex’s recovery was much faster than hers. He moved toward Phillip, giving her a chance to gain her equilibrium behind the protection of the tree. By the time they’d joined her, Darrell was astride her horse ready to go back.
She was still so shaken by what had transpired, she struggled to pretend nothing was wrong. “Did you make it in ten minutes?” she forced herself to ask Phillip.
“No, but I will next time.”
“Eleven and a half minutes isn’t bad for your first time.” Alex tousled Phillip’s hair. “Now we’d better go. I’ve discovered I’m hungry for lunch.”
Heat enveloped her.
“Me, too,” Phillip declared.
After they’d climbed on their horses, she trailed them down the mountain. Phillip did most of the talking. He couldn’t fathom that Bris was a four-thousand-year-old city built by the Romans. It was a good thing he was so eager to learn from his father. It prevented him from noticing how quiet she’d become.
Little did her son know her emotions were in utter chaos.
A line had been crossed today.
She didn’t have the power to turn back time to prevent the experience from happening. However she could make certain there would never be a repeat.
There was no excuse for losing her head. Until he’d admitted that he hadn’t been emotionally involved with Melissa, she would have assumed he’d lost his because she reminded him of her sister. Though the two of them had different coloring, physically they resembled each other in many ways.
Darrell could have understood him getting caught off guard in a small detour down memory lane, but according to him he couldn’t even remember that night with Melissa clearly. So what was the explanation?
Certainly it was a mistake! One of those heart-stopping, forbidden mistakes of unmatchable rapture she would remember for the rest of her life.
Deep in agonizing thought she scarcely remembered the ride back to the stable. Once she’d walked outside the barn, she caught sight of a cute, dark blond boy running toward Alex. He was calling out something to him in Romanche.
“Speak English, Jules.”
The boy reminded her of Phillip when he’d been a few years younger. They all bore that distinguishing Valleder stamp.
Alex put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Where’s Vito?”
“Around the front with Aunt Katerina.”
He guided him closer. “Jules? I’d like you to meet a relative from Colorado in the United States. I hope you’ll all become good friends.”
Jules looked up at Alex in surprise. “I didn’t know we had relatives in America.”
“You have one. His name is Phillip. He’s my son.”
The boy’s light blue eyes rounded in disbelief. “No, he’s not—”
For Darrell it was déjà vu because Phillip had sounded exactly like that when she’d told him his father was the king. The two boys had so much in common it was uncanny.
“Freaky, huh,” Phillip spoke up.
Alex smiled at his son. “Jules doesn’t know what freaky means.”
“Crazy.”
