Kitabı oku: «Christmas in His Royal Bed / Rossellini's Revenge Affair: Christmas in His Royal Bed / Rossellini's Revenge Affair»
Christmas in His Royal Bed by Heidi Betts
“You have two weeks left in Glendovia, and I fully intend to enjoy them. To enjoy you.”
Nicolas moved closer, his arms drawing her into his embrace. “I know that you’ll need to spend your days working. But your evenings will be free. And I’ll expect you to spend them with me, in my bed.”
“Absolutely not.” Alandra shook her head and took a step back, breaking away from his touch.
As much as he wanted to close the distance between them and kiss the quarrel from her lips, he remained where he was, allowing her to believe a few inches of space would keep her safe from him.
Rossellini’s Revenge Affair by Yvonne Lindsay
Raffaele despised her with every breath in his body.
Lana was widowed, when she should have been a divorcée. Tall, elegant, unnaturally composed. Had she even loved her dead husband? He doubted it. If she’d loved him, she would have let him go. Let him go to Maria, Raffaele’s sister, instead of clinging to a marriage long dead.
Would his treasured sister be lying in a hospital bed right now, supported only by life-giving machinery, if Lana had only given in to her husband’s repeated requests to be set free? Set free before the birth of a child who would now never know its father or its mother.
He’d failed to protect his sister but he would not fail her unborn child.
Raffaele Rossellini never made the same mistake twice.
HEIDI BETTS
An avid romance reader since school, Heidi knew early on that she wanted to write these wonderful stories of love and adventure. It wasn’t until her first year of college, however, when she spent the entire night reading a romance novel instead of studying for finals, that she decided to take the road less travelled and follow her dream. As well as devoting her time to reading, writing and creating romance, she is the founder of her local Romance Writers of America chapter. She also has a tendency to take injured and homeless animals of every species into her Central Pennsylvania home.
Heidi loves to hear from readers. You can write to her at PO Box 99, Kylertown, PA 16847, USA (an SAE with return posatge is appreciated, but not necessary) or e-mail heidi@heidibetts.com. And be sure to visit www.heidibetts.com for news and information about new books.
Dear Reader,
I’ve always wanted to write a story involving some type of royalty…a prince hero or princess heroine. I also knew that I wanted to give Alandra Sanchez, whom I introduced in my April 2008 Desire™ book, Blackmailed into Bed, a very special hero of her own. Well, what could be more special than a prince, right? Putting them both together seemed like the perfect solution. Add to that the opportunity I was given to set this story during the holidays, and I was one happy camper!
I hope you enjoy Christmas in His Royal Bed and this little jaunt through the island kingdom of Glendovia.
And don’t forget to visit my website, www. HeidiBetts.com, as often as you like for information about all of my books!
Happy holidays!
Heidi Betts
Christmas in His Royal Bed
HEIDI BETTS
Rossellini’s Revenge Affair
YVONNE LINDSAY
In loving memory of Helen Brown. When she passed away this time last year after a long and valiant battle with breast cancer, I lost a friend, and the romance world lost a dedicated fan. We miss you, Helen. And if Heaven is any kind of Heaven at all, it will be filled with romance novels for you to enjoy.
And with much appreciation to loyal reader Jennifer Yates, who, when I challenged readers to help me out, came up with many of the names used in this story. Thanks, Jennifer!
CHRISTMAS IN HIS ROYAL BED
by
Heidi Betts
One
Only she would do.
Prince Stephan Nicolas Braedon of Glendovia watched the ebony-haired beauty from afar. Tall and lithe, with an hourglass figure, she had silky black hair that fell in a straight curtain to her hips. He was too far away to know the color of her eyes or see the full pout of her lips, but he trusted the feeling in his gut that told him both would be just as alluring as the rest of her.
Cocking his head toward the tall, suited man at his side, he said in a low voice, “Find out her name.”
His bodyguard followed the direction of his gaze, then gave a stiff nod before moving away. Nicolas didn’t need to ask how Osric intended to get the information, nor did he care.
A few minutes later, his bodyguard returned, standing at attention at Nicolas’s side.
“Her name is Alandra Sanchez, Your Highness. She is in charge of the organization of this evening’s event.”
Alandra. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman.
She floated around the large, crowded ballroom, smiling, chatting with guests, making sure everything was running smoothly. The full-length lavender gown she wore shimmered in the muted lighting every time she moved, and fit her perfect feminine curves like a glove.
Nicolas hadn’t attended this fund-raising dinner in hopes of finding a lover, but now that he’d seen her, he knew he wouldn’t be leaving the United States without making arrangements for her to become his next mistress.
It was true that he was the member of the royal family in charge of overseeing Glendovia’s charitable organizations, but his duties did not extend to attending charitable events outside of his own country. That, he usually left to his sister or one of his two brothers.
But though his sister, Mia, had been scheduled to make the trip to the States and attend this dinner to raise funds for a new children’s wing at a central Texas hospital, she’d had to cancel at the last minute. Since Nicolas was to meet with very wealthy oilmen to discuss fuel for his country, he decided to attend.
Until a few minutes ago, he had been resenting the interruption of his own life and plans, and all but cursing his sister for being the cause. Now, however, he was considering sending Mia a bouquet of flowers or a box of her favorite truffles. He wanted to thank her for putting him on a path to what could turn out to be an extremely pleasurable experience.
Smiling so brightly the muscles in her cheeks ached, Alandra Sanchez moved around the room, making sure everything was running smoothly. She’d been working to set up this gala for months now, in hopes of raising both awareness and money for the new children’s hospital wing.
Unfortunately, things weren’t going quite as well as she’d hoped, and Alandra knew she had only herself to blame.
Everyone in the room seemed to be watching her. She could see their curiosity. Sense their condemnation.
All because she’d had the dreadful misfortune to get mixed up with the wrong man.
Of all the things that could have happened to put a damper on this evening’s event, this was the worst. A hurricane, a flash flood, even the hotel catching on fire…
Those were all disasters she could have handled. They barely would have caused a blip on her radar. But instead, she was being personally attacked, her reputation besmirched.
It served her right for ever getting involved with Blake Winters in the first place. She should have known the minute she met him that he would end up causing her nothing but trouble.
And now everyone in this room—everyone in Gabriel’s Crossing, the great state of Texas and possibly the entire United States of America—thought she was a home-wrecking adulteress.
That’s what the newspaper gossip columns were saying about her. Her picture, along with Blake’s and that of his wife and two children, had been plastered everywhere, with glaring, slanderous headlines.
Ignoring the stares and whispers she knew were aimed in her direction, Alandra held her head high and continued wending her way through the ballroom, acting as though nothing was wrong. As though her heart wasn’t racing, her face wasn’t flushed with humiliation and her palms weren’t damp with anxiety.
Nothing that had happened in the week since the story of her affair with Blake Winters broke had led her to believe the fund-raising dinner wouldn’t still be a complete success. None of the invited guests had cancelled, making excuses for why they couldn’t attend. No one from the hospital benevolence society had called to complain about the scandal she found herself suddenly embroiled in, or to voice concerns about her name being linked to the organization.
All of which led her to believe everything would be fine. That even though reporters were camped out on her front lawn, the rest of her life continued to run smoothly.
Now, though, she wasn’t so sure. Now, she thought perhaps every seat in the room was filled because the cream of central Texas high society wanted an up-close-and-personal glimpse of one of their own who had so recently fallen from grace.
She might as well have a scarlet letter pinned to her chest or a piece of spinach stuck in her teeth, for all the attention being focused on her every move.
The attention—even negative attention—she could handle. What concerned her more than the stares and whispers was the impact her newly sullied reputation might have on the amount of money collected this evening.
She’d worked so hard to put this event together, was so passionate about her philanthropy, giving of both her time and money to support the causes she felt most strongly about. And she had always been quite successful in convincing others to give to those causes, too.
Usually, by this point in the evening, she would already have collected a dozen extremely generous checks slipped to her by those in attendance, with more to follow at the end of the night. Tonight, however, her hands—and the hospital’s coffers—were still empty.
Because she’d had the misfortune of meeting Blake Winters at another fund-raiser last year, and hadn’t been wise enough to turn him away when he’d started asking her out, those who were most in need could very well end up going without.
The prospect broke her heart, and she pressed a hand to the snug satin stays sewn into the lining of her gown in an attempt to settle the nervous caterpillars squirming and wiggling in her belly.
She would act as though nothing was wrong, nothing was out of the ordinary—and pray like the dickens that the crowd got over their curiosity and remembered their true purpose for being here before the evening was over. Otherwise, she had a sneaking suspicion her personal bank account would be taking a hard hit when she attempted to single-handedly make up for what the children’s wing fund should have earned tonight. And probably would have, if not for her bad luck and some of the poor decisions she’d made recently.
Once she’d made her loop through the crowd to be sure every seat was filled, every guest served and everything was running as smoothly as possible, she returned to her own place at the front of the room, where a raised dais had been set up for the event’s organizers. She made small talk with the women on either side of her and choked down her meal, barely tasting a bite.
Next came a speech from the organization’s president, and a short ceremony where plaques were given to several members who had gone above and beyond in the past year. Even Alandra received one, for her continued dedication to raising money for the hospital.
Finally, the evening drew to an end, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She was now holding a few generous checks, and had received promises for more. Not as many as she’d collected in the past, and she had definitely noticed a distinct difference in the way people had treated her throughout the evening. But at least things were looking a bit brighter than they had when the night began.
She made a final round of the room, nodding farewells to guests as they exited the ballroom, and making sure no one left anything behind before the hotel staff started cleaning up.
Gathering her own small, beaded clutch and shawl from her seat, she found her mind racing ahead to what she needed to do the next day—thoughts that were interrupted when she heard a low, masculine voice call her name.
“Miss Sanchez?”
Turning, she found herself dwarfed by a wide-shouldered, dark-haired mountain of a man.
She swallowed once before pasting a smile on her face and tipping her head up, up, up to meet his gaze.
“Yes?”
“If you have a minute, my employer would like to speak with you.”
He inclined his head, drawing her attention to the back of the room, where a lone gentleman sat at one of the now-cleared round tables.
From what she could see at this distance, he was quite handsome.
He was also staring at her.
“Your employer?” she asked.
“Yes, miss.”
So much for gaining more information about who, exactly, the mountain’s employer was.
But if he had attended tonight’s dinner, then he was likely a current or potential donor, and she always had time to speak with a contributor. Especially one who could afford his own bodyguard, or CIA agent, or professional wrestler….
“Of course,” she said, maintaining her bright, upbeat demeanor.
Turning sideways, the giant gestured for her to move ahead of him, and then escorted her across the nearly empty room. Around them, dishes clinked and stacked chairs clattered as the kitchen and cleaning staff worked to disassemble what had taken all day to set up.
As she approached the man who wished to speak with her, he lifted a flute of champagne and took a long sip.
He wore a smartly tailored jacket of navy blue, cut quite differently than most of those she’d seen throughout the night. He definitely was not a local.
She also noticed that her earlier perception of him being “quite handsome” was a gross inaccuracy. He was movie-star gorgeous, with dark hair and startling blue eyes that seemed to bore into her like laser beams.
Holding out her hand, she introduced herself. “Hello, I’m Alandra Sanchez.”
“I know,” he replied, taking her hand and refusing to let it go as he tugged her gently forward. “Have a seat, won’t you, please.”
Letting her shawl fall lower on her bare back, she slid onto the chair beside him. “Your…employee said you wanted to speak to me.”
“Yes,” he replied slowly. “May I offer you a glass of champagne?”
She opened her mouth to refuse, but the hulk was already pouring and setting a glass in front of her.
“Thank you.”
Though they both had drinks now, and the evening’s event was clearly over, the man seated beside her still didn’t speak. The silence made Alandra shift uncomfortably, and caused gooseflesh to break out along her arms.
“What did you need to speak with me about, Mr.…” she finally pressed, careful to remain as polite as possible.
“You may call me Nicolas,” he replied.
His voice carried a slight accent. Perhaps the hint of a British lilt, but Alandra couldn’t place it.
“Nicolas,” she repeated, because he seemed to expect it. Then she continued in her attempts to get to his reason for wanting to speak with her.
“Were you interested in making a donation to the fund for the new children’s cancer wing of the hospital?” she asked. “If so, I would be happy to accept a check tonight. Or if you’d prefer, I can put you in touch with someone from the organization you can speak with, to make your contribution personally.”
For a moment after she finished, he simply continued to study her, his lapis-blue eyes sharp and commandingly intense.
After taking another sip of the expensive champagne, he slowly said, “I would be happy to give to your little…cause. However, that is not why I invited you over here.”
Alandra’s eyes widened fractionally at that, but she did her best to hide her consternation.
“I am staying in a suite of rooms here in this hotel,” he informed her. “I’d like for you to return there with me. Spend the rest of the evening in my bed. If things go well and we are…compatible, perhaps we can discuss further arrangements.”
Alandra blinked, but otherwise remained frozen in place, her entire body mannequin-stiff and unmoving. She couldn’t have been more stunned if he’d lifted a hand and slapped her across the face.
She didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know what she should say.
This certainly wasn’t the first time she’d been propositioned. Young or old, rich or poor, men had always been attracted to her, and she’d had more than her share of invitations to dinner, the theater, even romantic jaunts to private island hideaways.
And, yes, she was well aware that every single one of those men had hopes that dinner, the theater and tropical getaways would help him to seduce her into his bed.
But never—never—had any of them been so bold, so brash, as to flat-out ask her to sleep with him.
This was all because of the scandal, she realized suddenly, her spine snapping straight with offense. Those bloody articles had labeled her an immoral home wrecker. And this man had obviously gotten wind of that and decided she wouldn’t be averse to an indecent proposal.
Well, she was averse. She was disgusted and thoroughly insulted.
Pushing her chair back, she rose to her feet, rearranged her shawl across her back and arms, and tightened her fingers on her small clutch purse. Concentrating on her breathing, she stood perfectly rigid, looking down at him.
“I don’t know what kind of woman you think I am. But I can assure you I’m not the kind to go to bed with a man I’ve just met.”
She cut a quick glance at the bear standing at attention a yard or two away. “Maybe your bodyguard can find someone a little more willing and a lot less discriminating to go back to your room with you tonight. That is, if you’re utterly incapable of finding her on your own.”
With that, Alandra turned on her heel and marched out of the ballroom to the elevator.
Just who the hell did the man think he was?
Two
Who did she think she was to speak to him in such a manner?
Nicolas had never been turned down like that before.
He blinked once, slowly, searching his memory for a similar incident that might have taken place during his lifetime.
No, he didn’t think he’d been turned down ever.
Had she actually implied that he was incapable of finding his own female companionship? Or that he had to order Osric to pay a woman to spend time with him?
He shook his head, still not quite believing what had just taken place. Behind him, Osric shuffled closer, looming over his right shoulder.
“Your Highness, shall I go after her and bring her back so that you may finish your conversation?”
Nicolas could picture his oversize bodyguard, who closely resembled a brick wall, tackling Miss Sanchez to the ground and carting her back to him…and the fuss the lady would kick up if he so much as tried.
“No, thank you, Osric,” he replied. “I believe I’ll be returning to the suite alone this evening.”
Placing his hands on the tabletop in front of him, he stood and straightened the front of his jacket, then started out of the ballroom, with his trusty security guard close on his heels.
He should be upset, Nicolas thought, as they made their way through the hotel to his private, luxurious suite on the thirty-third floor.
Ironically, he was more intrigued than ever by the ebony-haired beauty. It was her face and figure that had first caught his attention, and seeing her up close hadn’t changed his mind about having her in his bed.
He would have expected a dressing-down such as she’d given him to turn him off, to make him realize he didn’t want to sleep with a woman who possessed such a sharp tongue. Instead, her spirit fired his blood.
If anything, he found himself wanting her more. She was lovely and fierce, and he could only imagine how passionately those qualities would translate between the sheets.
Alandra Sanchez might think she’d gotten in the last word downstairs, when she’d all but told him to take his offer and go straight to the devil. But Prince Stephan Nicolas Braedon was used to getting his way, getting what he wanted.
And he wanted her.
So he would have her. He only had to figure out how.
One week later…
“Pop? Alandra? Is anybody here?”
Alandra heard her sister calling from downstairs, and was more than happy to take a break from the event plans she’d been working on all afternoon.
Since Elena had moved out of their father’s house and into her own with her new husband, Chase, Alandra didn’t get to see her as often as she used to.
Abandoning her desk, she found her sister looking slightly frazzled as she flipped through a pile of mail stacked beside a large arrangement of fresh flowers on the round table in the center of the foyer. When she heard Alandra’s approach, Elena raised her head and rolled her eyes.
“A reporter tried to follow my car through the security gate,” she snapped, waving a hand over her shoulder in the direction of the front door. “He was camped out front, waiting.”
Alandra frowned, moving closer to give her sister a gentle squeeze. “I’m so sorry. I really thought they’d have lost interest by now and moved on to something else.”
“It’s not your fault,” Elena said with a sigh, returning Alandra’s hug. “And eventually they will lose interest and move on.”
“So what are you doing here?” she asked distractedly, her mind still on the reporter. It was one thing for her to be harassed and annoyed because of her own foolish actions, but it was another for her family to be dragged into this mess.
“Since Chase won’t be home for dinner because of a late meeting, I thought I’d stop by to say hello, see how you and Pop are doing, and grab a bite to eat. Not to mention picking up any stray mail,” she added, stuffing a few letters into the side pocket of her handbag.
Her sister had married and moved out last year, but the change-of-address process took time, and the odd letter or piece of mail showed up for her occasionally.
“Well, dinner will be served at seven, as usual, and as far as I know, everything is fine around here. Pop is still at the office, and I’ve just been working on the plans for that fund-raiser for the animal shelters.”
“Will Chase and I be invited?” Elena asked.
“Of course.”
“Looks like you got something important,” her sister said, nodding toward the letter left on top of the stack.
Alandra picked up the thick envelope and read the return address, which was embossed in dark blue, fancy raised script on parchment-quality stationery. “H.R.H. Prince Stephan Nicolas Braedon, Kingdom of Glendovia.”
“His Royal Highness?” Elena asked. “Really? You got a letter from a prince?”
“It appears so.” She opened the envelope and skimmed the official-looking letterhead and neatly typed text of the top page. Then, heart stuttering, she read it again. “Oh, my God,” she breathed.
“What?”
“This Prince Stephan wants me to come to his kingdom and oversee all of their fund-raising organizations.”
Both sisters scanned the letter. It touched on Alandra’s past fund-raising accomplishments, which the prince claimed were very impressive, and stressed how much Glendovia could use her assistance. He even went so far as to enclose copies of a contract for her employment that he hoped she would peruse and strongly consider signing.
Lifting the cover sheet, Alandra read the one-page agreement. It briefly outlined her duties and obligations, if she chose to accept the royal family’s offer, as well as their obligations to her.
“Do you think this is legitimate?” Elena demanded.
The Braedon name did ring some bells. “I guess it would be easy enough to check out,” she replied.
The two of them went into Alandra’s office, where she started going through her guest lists, and her sister did a quick search on the Internet.
“Huh,” Elena said when they discovered at almost the same moment that Stephan Nicolas Braedon was, indeed, a bona fide prince, and the island of Glendovia really did exist. According to Alandra’s records, another member of the Braedon royal family—a Princess Mia—had attended one of her recent fund-raisers.
“What are you going to do?” Elena asked.
“Well, I’ll reply, of course, and thank him for the generous offer, but I can’t possibly accept. I’m already knee-deep in organizing my next event, and Christmas is a month off. I don’t want to be away from my family over the holidays.”
“I don’t blame you, but you have to admit it’s a flattering offer.”
Extremely flattering, Alandra thought, glancing once again at the raised script of the letterhead. She almost wanted to reach out and run her fingertips over the prince’s name. Her letter of refusal definitely wouldn’t be an easy one to write.
“But maybe…”
Alandra glanced at her sister. “What?”
“I was just thinking that maybe this position in Glendovia is exactly what you need.”
Alandra frowned. “What?”
“Well, things are anything but simple around here for you right now. You’ve got a reporter camped outside the house, that jerk Winters still calling you, and…well…” Her gaze skittered away and her voice softened slightly. “I heard that last week’s fund-raiser didn’t go as well as your events usually do.”
Alandra took a breath, trying not to let the pain of having her shortcomings pointed out by her own flesh and blood overwhelm her.
Running a supportive hand down her arm, Elena continued. “I was just thinking that if you got away for a while, where no one could find you, this would all blow over. And when you came back, you could get on with your life as though none of it had ever happened.”
“But I would be away from you guys,” Alandra murmured. “Over Christmas.”
“You could come back before then. But even if you didn’t, it’s only one holiday. There’s always next year.” Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, her sister added, “I don’t necessarily want you to go, I’m just saying that maybe you should think it over and do what’s best for you. I think Pop would agree.”
“I’ll consider it,” Alandra said, realizing her sister was making a good point. Perhaps the best way to leave all this scandal behind was to fly off to a foreign country.
Ücretsiz ön izlemeyi tamamladınız.
