Prince's Proposition (The Exiled Royals #3) (7 page)

“We were floundering before you.”

“Maybe you’re the catalyst, and it’s just a combination for us,” he corrected, smiling at her. “I always said we were an unstoppable team.”

“Yeah and…”

She trailed off, not sure what she was thinking.

Sylvia’s words that had come back to work their way into her brain, to burrow down into her bones and inspire her. Yes, love didn’t always work out, but did that mean she had to fight the attraction between her and Xavier forever? She had to fight for it and, damn it, she was going to fight for Xav. She was ready to try again. Let him ignore her now. She wouldn’t let him.

She leaned in and kissed Xavier; his lips were soft and full against hers, and his stubble tickled the area under her nose. With hesitation, then growing enthusiasm, his tongue moved with the same killer skills that it always had, and she reveled in the way both hers and his danced around each other in their mouths. All of it was about dominance, about who was coming out on top.

She didn’t want to worry about that.

She just wanted him tonight in her bed, to feel the things she hadn’t in over three long and lonely years.

He stopped then and she grabbed onto his lapels in a desperate bid to keep him from pulling away from her.

His golden eyes burrowed into hers, a mix of desire and disappointment showing in their depths. “We shouldn’t, P. I know you’re tired, and this is all about the location or maybe old feelings. I’ve asked a dozen times or more since we rekindled at least our working partnership, and you’ve always rebuffed me. I know you could regret this and---”

She brought a finger to his lips and shook her head. “I wouldn’t regret this. Ever. I regret missing us and not giving us a chance.”

“I didn’t want to try either. I was always too busy before, but now I know there are things I shouldn’t ever take for granted.”

“Like…me?”

“I think I can have it all---the businesses and you, and a man would be crazy not to do both,” he said, and then he got to his feet and moved to his suitcase. He opened it and started rummaging in the pockets. She would have complained but it was a relief to see him pulling out a familiar foil packet. “I think we don’t need any new Ruminean exiled heirs,” he said.

“I agree,” she said. Paula stood up and unwrapped her sari. The soft orange fabric fell to her feet as she stepped out of it, leaving her in just her simple cotton bra and panties. She wished that she’d thought to wear something silky or lacy, but that wasn’t her style, especially because she hadn’t planned on moving past business into pleasure.

Staring into Xavier’s widened pupils, she pushed her panties down her legs to puddle at her feet, then undid the clasp of her bra and let the garment fall to the floor. She stood naked before him feeling the blush spreading over her cheeks. There were a few stretch marks faintly there on her ample hips and she knew that she wasn’t a starlet or an heiress, and thought that maybe she could have really committed to the gym while he was gone. It was that around him, a small, scared part of her always felt like---
believed
---that she’d never been enough.

Before her, Xavier took in a deep breath and licked his lips. His eyes seemed wider than before and he slipped unbuttoning his shirt, missing the button he’d been on. Maybe she wasn’t as bad as she’d thought if she could make him lose him cool composure.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, echoing her own hopes and dismissing her fears with so few words. Of course, then he slipped off his Oxford shirt and revealed that perfectly tanned exposed skin. The hard ridges of his abs looked simply delicious and she couldn’t wait to run her tongue over them, to feel the ripples of them under her. “Everything about you…memories weren’t enough.”

She nodded, then slid onto the bed, leaning against the mound of pillows and trying to angle herself coquettishly toward him. “I’m feeling the same thing.”

“I think that I’m even feeling… shall we say, ‘inspired?’” His voice came out in a silky purr; he undid his zipper and letting his pants fall to the floor to join her clothing.

Paula licked her lips and enjoyed the way his thick, well-formed cock jutted toward her.

Without saying a word, Xavier he slipped the condom on and then started up onto the bed as lithe and intent as a panther stalking his prey. Paula shivered, at the sight of his lean muscles bunching and rippling as he moved over the mattress to her, his gold-flecked eyes glowing in the moonlight. God had it been too long.

“I missed you,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. She felt as if she spoke any louder, she’d end up shattering this spell.

“I missed you so much,” he said, kissing her throat, sucking at her pulse point.

She mewled under his ministrations and shuddered hard as his fingers trailed over the skin of her ribs, then ran down her hips. She took in a deep breath as he slipped his hand to the juncture of her thighs. “You have no idea how much.”

“Show me,” she said.

He laved the skin of her throat, with expert dedication over every inch of skin. Incredibly sensitized, as if the nerves endings were on fire, Paula whimpered. Every stroke seemed to touch every molecule in her body. Her core pulsed with need and heat radiated throughout her body.

She bucked against him a bit, and let out a sharp hiss as his left forefinger and middle finger entered her. She reveled in the feel of him stretching her out as Xavier leaned to nibble at her earlobe.

Goose bumps exploded all over her skin and it felt like she’d die right there in his arms.

“Please,” she moaned. “Need you---all of you.”

Without missing a beat, he moved his mouth to hers and kissed her, his tongue as rapacious and hungry as ever. She felt the momentary loss of his fingers as he slipped them from her body, but then the head of his cock nestled against her labia, hard and thick. Slowly, in a leisurely way so different from the way he behaved outside of the bedroom, Xavier moved to ease the tip of his cock into her. Inch by slow, languid inch. But eventually, his length was nestled inside her, completely engulfed. He began kissing her with the same slow and careful effort, teasing her and forcing her to twitch and hitch with need. He gazed down into face with his beautiful hazel eyes, then nodded and began to thrust into her in earnest. Before long, she matched him thrust for thrust, and they met one another in a primal rhythm.

Xavier didn’t stop kissing her, or stop the plundering of his tongue even as his cock plundered her body.  He moved his hands over her breasts, squeezing and fondling and gently pinching or slipped down to stroke her clit.

Heat roared over her skin, a five alarm fire that might never be extinguished. Paula didn’t care. This was heaven---this consumption of heat and need and passion. It was everything she’d wanted.

A massive wave of pleasure slowly and steadily swirled over her, rising and surging until she couldn’t do anything but shudder and scream Xavier’s name and a litany of curses. Her body convulsed beneath his, and she clenched her legs his waist to pull him even closer and deeper as she came. He tipped his head back, his mouth open and gasping as he gave a final, tremendous thrust. Xavier shuddered and quivered over her and she knew he’d come as well. After so long, they were still so well-attuned to each other.

Minutes stretched into what felt like hours, as Paula lay, a quivering, satiated mass on the bed, happily curled in Xavier’s arms and her head resting against his shoulder.

She’d have to get Sylvia the biggest bouquet ever for making her take the leap, for giving her the confidence she never thought she’d have again.

“Thank you,” she whispered, grateful to Sylvia, to Xav…Hell, to fate itself, for messing up their reservations and bringing them back together, here in this place

Everything was perfect.

Xavier couldn’t help but smile as he watched the morning rays play against the gorgeous sunny gold of Paula’s hair. A sappy, soppy part of himself thought it looked like a halo, fanning out around her hair. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen---his angel. He’d missed her more than anything. This was the night he’d been craving for it seemed like forever, the thing he’d missed so very much in a life so full of many things.

But this thing was what truly mattered. Yes, his company mattered. Showing his overbearing mother what a mistake she’d made, mattered. But this--It had been missing from his soul for over three years.

How could Paula think that he didn’t love her?

Then his phone alarm blared, and she sat bolt upright next to him. “God, what time is it?”

“It’s only ten,” he said, cursing when he looked back at his watch on the night stand. His smart phone hadn’t reset itself properly for the new time zone for some reason. “Damn it! I meant it’s almost noon. Blasted phones. Quick, grab whatever so we can still get to Ms. McCorkle’s in time. I go on at two!”

She didn’t have to be told twice, and he bolted out of bed as quickly as she did, lunging for his own clothes. There was no time to shave, and the crowd would have to deal with his slightly rugged look. He was Eastern European, and that meant his five o’clock shadow was thick, more like a damn bear rug than just a speckling of scruff. Still, it didn’t matter. What mattered was getting to Sylvia’s Indian estate and getting to the dais in time. He couldn’t afford to disappoint Paula now, not when things were going so well.

Hell, not when he’d just been given everything he’d ever wanted.

Except for driving The Royal Bank of Ruminea underground.

***

“I need to speak with you, Prince Rostov,” said a wiry man with a thick Russian accent.

He frowned back at the stranger. Paula was already sitting down, and everyone else was getting ready for the luncheon. He was backstage, so to speak, in a small area of the kitchen. When it was time for his five minute speech on
Lillian’s Fund’s
work, he’d slip into the front of the dining hall, go to the podium, and command all eyes in the room. He wasn’t even sure that other people were supposed to be back here besides kitchen staff.

This stranger was clearly not kitchen staff.

He was tall, with a tanned complexion and hands that were soft with middle age and a life that clearly had never required him to do manual labor. He was also well-dressed in a suit that had clearly been custom made.

Xavier shook his head. “I’m not the prince anymore. It’s only been in every paper and damn tabloid for a year. However, I appreciate the consideration.”

“No, you mistake the politeness for my being obsequious.”

“Do I?”

“Yes,” the stranger said, straightening his red silk tie. “My name is Dimitri Petrokov, and I’m the head of
Petrokov Oil Subsidiaries
out of St. Petersburg. I suppose that a man who has worked so hard at building up his own financial empire is aware of us.”

Xavier nodded and tried not to let the recognition alter his behavior much. The last thing he needed was to slip into the role of behaving like a hyperactive puppy. This man was one of the wealthiest oil tycoons in the world. He had a yearly profit margin larger than more than a few countries’ GDP. If this man were an interested investor…

“What would you like to speak about?” he asked. “I have to go on in ten minutes. I’ll be giving the short address before the luncheon.”

“I want to talk about
The Royal Bank of Ruminea
.”

Figured. “I’m sorry, but I no longer run the Royal Bank. You’d do better to ask for an audience with Queen Mina via official channels.”

“No, I mean that bank has been acting against me as I branch out into financial investments and hedge funds. I need it destabilized, Prince Rostov, and I believe that building up
Rostov Investments
, and helping it to reach its full potential, will be exactly what I need for my problems.”

Damn. Not now. Not now! He’d been granted almost everything he’d wanted the night before, but to keep it, he needed to focus on this speech. Even at the expense of his final desire. “I don’t know if I can help. Really, if you can just wait ten more minutes…”

“I have a flight to catch. You can ride with me now to the airport and hear my pitch, or you can stay chasing paltry charity funds for your girlfriend.” Petrokov shook his head. “Perhaps Mina was right to cut you off. You’re hardly the prince I’d thought you’d be.”

“You knew my mother?”

“I know many things, Xavier. Now come with me and get what you truly want---what we both want---to give your mother her just desserts. Or you can stay here and dwell in mediocrity. It’s your choice.”

Xavier nodded as he considered this. Petrokov was offering him everything else he wanted outside of Paula. And Sylvia had already promised to fund the center, so how important could this address actually be? So this wouldn’t land a large foreign funder or someone from high society in a country half way across the planet. So what? How many times did billionaire capitalists offer to be the final push one needed to become a global banking power?

Answer: never.

It was a no contest decision.

Xavier stood and nodded back at Petrokov. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

***

“And now,” Sylvia said, her voice trilling out for the crowd. “Before we enjoy our meal, I’m proud to announce that Prince Xavier Rostov of Ruminea and the fundraising chair for
Lillian’s Fund
will be speaking with us for a few minutes about the foundation’s wonderful mission, as well as the exciting new opportunity for growth there. So, without further ado, may I present Prince Xavier.”

The crowd clapped vigorously, and Paula beamed. She was smiling so broadly that she felt like her face might split, but it was an amazing feeling. Xavier had grown so much, and she was so proud of him and that change in him.

Then there was a pause, a longer pause, and Sylvia frowned as her guests started to mumble.

Paula stood up. Xavier should have come right out. Unless he hadn’t heard Sylvia’s introduction? That was possible, she supposed. She held up her hand in a ‘be right back’ gesture, then hurried into the back to get Xavier.

Perhaps he was sick. They were in a new area with unique cuisine and tons of spices. Had he gotten sick? God, poor Xav! That would be so embarrassing.

Heart brimming with concern, she hurried into the kitchen, Sylvia hot on her heels. The widow stepped forward to speak with the head chef. He was speaking in an Indian dialect that Paula had no hope of understanding and had no idea that Sylvia even spoke.,

Then he pointed at an empty folding chair.

Confused and frightened, Paula put a hand on Sylvia’s shoulder and asked her what was going on. Sylvia shook her head and held Paula tightly. The fierceness of the other woman’s hug scared Paula dearly.

Good Lord, it was food poisoning!
But even as she thought that, she knew it was something else. Something worse. Paula stepped out of Sylvia’s embrace.

“What’s going on?”

“You need to go out there in a minute and give the speech. My chef tells me that Xavier was approached by a man. They spoke briefly, and then they left together. . ”

It felt like someone had socked her in the gut. This couldn’t be happening. He wouldn’t abandon her like this, not after everything that had happened last night. He’d promised her! Not with words or contracts, but with his body and his soul, with that searing and hungry look in his eyes. He was here. For
her
.

Except he wasn’t.

Paula swiped angrily at her eyes. She wouldn’t cry, not now. She’d probably cry later, even though she’d promised herself that she’d never cry over Xavier again. Right now, she had a speech to salvage and
Lillian’s Fund
to run, with or without him.

Paula took a deep breath.
Carry on.
“I’m sorry for embarrassing you, Sylvia.”

“I’m not, but I just feel for you. I knew he could go either way. He tried to sell me on
Rostov Investments
rather ham-fistedly to me at that first cocktail party. But he’d seemed to really blossom this month, and I believed he could change too. It wasn’t just you he sucked in.”

”I’m sorry…”“Yes,” Sylvia said, sighing. The prince is not nearly as efficient or sneaky as he thinks he is. “It’s a bit sad if you ask me. However, I did see the way he looks at you and how much more pleasant being with you has made him. I thought he had changed. I…it’s my fault and I am so sorry that I did this. I believed in him too.”

“Then we were both wrong,” Paula said, straightening her shoulders and raising her chin high. The time for tears or shock was over. She had a charity to run and she intended to run it.

Without Xavier.