The Prince's Runaway Lover (Men of the Zodiac) Read online

  “You fit perfectly against me,” Nicky said between sweet kisses pressed along her shoulder. “I’m so much bigger than you are but you fit right here.”

  She did. The difference in their sizes allowed him to wrap her up in his arms and cover large expanses of her with his warm, muscled body. She felt safe, content lying here in his arms, and she allowed herself to feel them. One moment at a time. One day at a time. That was her life now and she would wring out the pleasure from this moment and take it with her.

  “So, I knew about the tattoos.” Everyone knew about Nicky’s tattoos. When he began competing at the professional level, the crowd had gone wild every time he took his shirt off. It wasn’t expected for a royal prince to be covered in ink and there were entire articles in magazines devoted to every scroll, skull, animal and word on his body. But nothing had ever surfaced about the piercing. “The piercing was a super hot surprise.”

  He chuckled, his breath warm against her neck where he was alternating sexy nibbles with sensual licks on her skin. “Glad you liked it. Some women don’t.”

  “I loved it.” Of course she did, it hit her G-spot with every thrust. Every guy should get one. “Where did you get it? When?”

  “A few years ago in New Orleans. I went to this funky tattoo shop to have this awesome artist add the Libra astrological sign on my right side.” He shifted and raised his arm so she could see the symbol on the side of his body. “She worked her voodoo on me and the next thing I know I’m in the chair getting my dick pierced. I’ve never regretted it.” He paused for a moment and then laughed. “Okay, I regretted it when they did it because it hurt like a son-of-a-bitch but not since then.”

  Nicky ran his right hand up her thigh, over her hip and across her back and she knew when he felt the scars. He stiffened against her, the pressure of his fingertips easing off as if he was afraid it would hurt her.

  “They don’t hurt anymore,” she said. Isabel waited for the inevitable questions. Most people politely acted as if they didn’t see them but she knew Nicky wouldn’t be one of them.

  “What happened to you?” His voice was harsher on the next one. “Did someone do this to you, Isabel?”

  She inhaled slowly, steadying her own emotions. It was a long time ago. She had survived and that was all that mattered.

  “I was married once and I didn’t realize until after the wedding that he was not a kind man. Those scars were made by his belt buckle and they were the final straw. I knew if I stayed, I would end up dead.”

  “Was there no one to help you? Did you tell the police?”

  “I was afraid and young. My family was nobody and he was a big deal in my hometown. People didn’t want to cross him.”

  Isabel reached around and grabbed his hand, drawing it away from the evidence of her foolish naïveté, and wrapped his arm around her again. Nicky took her cue and settled against her but she could feel his remaining questions simmering between them.

  “Are you still married to him?” Nick stumbled on the question and it was the first time she’d really heard him be hesitant about anything. She rushed to assure him that he was not currently wrapped around another man’s wife.

  “No. I left him.” She took a deep breath and shoved away the tendrils of fear that still came back when she thought of that night. “My sister Irene and her husband helped me get away and stood by me during the divorce.”

  They’d risked so much helping her and that was why there had been no question that she would come back to town when Irene got sick. Even with how it had all turned out, she did not regret it.

  “And that’s why you refuse to be weak ever again,” he murmured against her cheek, his arms tight around her as if he could protect her from the past. It was sweet and kind, and exactly what she would expect of him.

  “I’m not. I never will be again.”

  “You should be proud of yourself.”

  Oh, if he only knew how far she’d gone, would he say the same thing? She was not sorry for what she’d done although she was sorry that she had to live with the consequences. She would do it again, after surviving the abuse she would not let him take her life.

  She answered him, careful with her words. “I am proud of the person I’ve become. I fought for me and I’m worth it.”

  “I’m glad you fought.” He leaned over and kissed her, the touch gentle, the emotion warm. He’d taken down her defenses with his body and now he did the same thing with his words and his kind heart. “I’m glad you’re here with me.”

  Nicky settled beside her and they drifted together as the shadows crossed the wall and ticked away the passing of time. She was tired, blissfully content, and felt herself drifting off into dreams of the man beside her when he spoke.

  “Is that Lake Como?” She knew which one he was talking about. It was a photo from a magazine she’d placed into a frame several years ago and one of the things she’d taken with her when she fled.

  “Yes.” She glanced up at the photograph, admiring the villa gardens seated on the shore of the western edge of the lake. “It’s Villa Segreto. The gardens there are legendary and it’s my dream to see them one day.”

  “Are they open to the public?”

  “No. The count who owns them doesn’t like to share.”

  “Greedy asshole,” Nicky said in her ear, his hand covering her breast, fingers lazily tweaking her nipple. Isabel squirmed with the pleasure of it and the sensation of his cock hardening against her ass. “I should buy it and then you can see it whenever you want.”

  “Maybe you can buy it later.” Isabel reached around and took him in hand, squeezing as she stroked him from root to tip. “I can think of something better to do right now.”

  Nicky groaned and bit the curve of her shoulder, his hips undulating in encouragement. Sleep left her completely as he rolled her over onto her back and settled himself between her thighs, his sex heavy and urgent against her own. His mouth hovered for a few seconds over her own, his words were almost lost in their next kiss.

  “Yeah, I’ll buy it later.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  The internet café was almost empty so she was able to get a seat near the back where no one could look over her shoulder.

  Isabel accepted her order of coffee and chocolate croissant from the waitress and settled in with her laptop. She logged into the café wifi and opened up her browser, making sure it was functioning in private browser mode. She logged in and set up another disposable email account and then connected to the proxy server before opening the email program and entering the email account her sister had set up just for this purpose.

  Once a month, Isabel found a public wifi network and went through all these steps just to send her sister a message to let her know she was okay. Irene had always been a worrier, the bane of the older sibling’s existence and Isabel couldn’t stomach the idea that her sister was wondering if she was okay.

  As always, Isabel hoped her sister understood the message and didn’t send it to trash with other spam items in her inbox. They’d never discussed this; it had never entered their minds to concoct a plan to stay in touch if Isabel were to become an international fugitive. When she’d finally left Adam, sneaking out of the hospital in the middle of the night, phone calls from phone booths had been sufficient to keep her safe and hidden in Tulsa. The year after the divorce they’d moved on to phone calls and emails like regular people, lulled into complacency because he’d finally signed the papers and she was free. He’d moved on. He’d let her go. He’d played the part so well that everyone believed it, including her, which was why she’d known her story would never be believed when he’d come to her house that night and she’d fled with his blood on her hands.

  The voice of the waitress asking if she needed a refill pulled Isabel out of the dark memories and back to the sun-filled café overlooking the gorgeous harbor of Callanos, the yachts and sailboats gleaming as they stood sentinel at the marina. She ran her finger over the mouse pad, waking up the c
omputer that had gone to sleep while she’d been reliving a nightmare and then returned her gaze to the scenery outside the window.

  Tourists strolled along the streets, spending their money in shops that catered to people who never bothered to look at price tags and staffed by people who pinched every penny. Nicky had his work cut out for him, taking care of such different interests and needs. She wouldn’t see him today. His schedule was full of coronation planning meetings and a session with the government to discuss his plans for the refugees. The paper this morning was full of how parliament was squaring off over his plans and some of them were hinting at support of the Duke of Rushing. No one wanted a fight over the throne, but it was clear that Nicky could ill afford any true crises before the coronation.

  Isabel didn’t wish him any trouble but she welcomed the distance this day gained her. Her feelings for himshe could no longer deny that she felt something for Nickywere complicated. She stared at the screen for a few moments, her mind unable to settle on what she wanted to tell her sister first. There was so much to say and what she wouldn’t give to sit down and talk to her sister about all of this. This was the best she could do.

  Irene

  I hope you guys are doing well. Give a huge hug to Doug and sloppy raspberry kisses to Makenna. I know she must be so big by now, don’t let her forget her aunty. Please. Let her know that I love her no matter what…

  She blinked away the tears that made the screen go blurry, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand when it wasn’t enough. Damn, this was hard. Isabel stared at the screen, re-reading the rest of her words through eyes blurry with tears once again. She’d put crying behind her after her first year of marriage. It made Adam worse when she cried so she’d learned to keep them in, even when the pressure burned in her lungs like a red-hot poker. She’d cried when she’d landed in Amsterdam with a strange name and no past and an unknown future…but not since then.

  She highlighted the text on the screen and hit the delete button, sending all of it and the emotion that went with them to the trash bin. It was the same thing every month; she’d pour out her rage and hurt and lost hopes on the page and then erase them. She never sent them. It wouldn’t make Irene feel any better. Instead she typed the same words she always did and hoped her sister understood the message:

  Meet you in Frontier City on the Mindbender. Loser buys the funnel cake.

  It was one of her best memories with her sister. Fighting constantly as two teenage girls will do, they’d been majorly pissed when they had to leave their friends and go on a family vacation. Their parents had taken them to a western-themed amusement park and told them they could only walk around without parents if they did it together.

  The sisters had taunted each other to go on a ride that catapulted you in the air and then scooped and tossed you to the heavens a couple more times. Neither had been willing to admit fear and so when the ride had begun and scared the ever-loving crap out of them both, they’d ended the ride holding each other tight. Afterward they’d split a funnel cake and vowed to never tell their parents. It was the first grown-up secret they’d kept between the two of them and the moment solidified their bond as sisters and friends. Isabel never forgot it.

  Her finger hovered over the mouse pad like it always did. Would this be the email that led the police straight to her? Or worse…would it send them to Irene? She exhaled, calming her nerves as she ran through her research and followed the instructions she’d been given by a hacker girl she’d met in the youth hostel in Amsterdam. The risk was always there but this was the only way she knew how to do this. With a whoosh of breath and a prayer, she hit send, watching the screen until the little envelope icon closed up and flew away.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Nick was really glad that everyone had been checked for weapons.

  The “die now please” looks he was getting from some of the parliament members were ugly enough to catch the attention of the Royal Guard and he saw a couple of them glare in his defense. He wasn’t really worried. Everyone forgot that he’d grown up in this palace, heard his father and then his brother grumble about them and then find ways to work around them. He’d figure out a way to win them over.

  “Are you ready for this?” Chris asked as he adjusted the papers on the podium in the throne room of the palace one more time. His friend was nervous for him and it showed. “The sharks are out for you today.”

  Nick slid another glance at his opposition, his gaze quickly finding the only person he was really concerned about. “The only one who I’d worry about taking a bite out of me is the Duke of Rushing. He had the nerve to make a speech this morning opposing my speech even though he hadn’t heard it yet.”

  “He wants to be king.” Chris shrugged. “Unfortunately for you the easiest way he could get it is if you were eliminated…permanently.”

  “He doesn’t have the balls to kill or to get anyone else to do it. The only way he’d get this throne is if I screw up and hand it to him on a silver platter. If I keep the confidence of the people until my coronation, it’s a done deal.”

  “So, you’re feeling better about it?”

  “I’m feeling better about doing it my way, finding my own rhythm and methods.” He laughed as he adjusted his cuff links. “I hope Callanos is ready for an unorthodox king. I won’t ever be like Alec or my father.”

  “They’ll get used to it.”

  “That’s what Isabel said.”

  “She seems to be a very wise woman.” He checked his watch and compared it to the clock on the other side of the room. “Except for the part where she’s consorting with an asshole like you.”

  “That’s Royal Highness Asshole to you.”

  “Of course.”

  Nick smiled at his friend, grateful to have him by his side. “Thanks, man, for being here.” He looked around him, ensuring they weren’t overheard. “Thanks for getting her here.”

  “No sweat. She’s in your office watching this on TV. No one knows she’s here although we’ve been fending off questions about her identity from every news source on the planet. They are digging deep and I don’t think they’ll let it go until they find out or you decide to publicly date another woman.”

  Nick frowned at the thought of taking another woman to his bed after having Isabel. It wasn’t appealing.

  “How close are they to figuring it out?”

  “There is no link between the woman at the camp and an employee of the palace. Unless someone from the palace talks, it should be fine,” Chris said. “The palace grapevine has an idea that something is going on between the two of you, but so far they’ve kept their mouths shut. If you keep spending time at her cottage, it’s going to get out.”

  Nick thought about that for a second and realized he was right. He’d have to arrange another place to be with Isabel or even the most discreet palace staff wouldn’t be able to turn the other way. “I’ll figure something out. Isabel doesn’t want her name or photo getting out.”

  “Any idea why?” Chris asked. “Most women are dying to be on a magazine cover with you.”

  “She maintains that she’s leaving and doesn’t want to be another one of my conquests. Her words, not mine.”

  “I get that. The life isn’t for everyone and there have been a shitload of women.”

  Nick ignored the last statement, especially since he didn’t have much of a defense. He liked women, they liked that he was a prince and they sometimes liked him. He’d never met one he wanted to keep around on a permanent basis. Isabel was different, though. He’d known it the moment he’d first laid eyes on her and it was driven home with painful poignancy last night when he’d had to leave her at the cottage to attend a state dinner. He’d wanted nothing more than to stay with her, warm under the covers of her bed, and make love to her all night. Instead he’d gritted his teeth through the entire evening with her taste on his lips and the memory of her falling apart around him.

  His feelings for her didn’t scare him. He
wasn’t a man to run away from anything. When something piqued his interest he dove in headfirst, immersing himself in it until he was sated and satisfied. Nick just wanted the time to explore her and see what this could become, but Isabel had made it clear that he wasn’t going to get that chance. It made him hurt deep in his chest and he rubbed there with the heel of his hand to alleviate the ache.

  “She doesn’t even want to consider the life. No relationship. Nothing. She’s perfectly fine with us being together until she leaves. As long as it’s a secret.”

  “It sounds like the goose is serving it up to the gander this time,” Chris said. “You think that’s all there is to her wanderlust?”

  Nick remembered the scars on her back, her nomad lifestyle, the estrangement from her family. All of it added up to a woman outrunning her past but he couldn’t share those details with Chris. They weren’t his secrets to share. “She was hurt very badly in the past. I think she wants to keep her options open, protect herself.”

  “And you’re okay with that?”

  “I didn’t say that,” he said, noting that it was almost time to start. “I like her, very much. I’d like for her to stay around long enough for us to see what could happen between us.”

  Chris choked, his eyes wide with surprise. “Are you saying that she could be your queen?”

  “All I’m saying is that I want her to stay and give us both a chance to find out.”

  “When you tell your mother warn me so I can be a continent away.”

  Nick laughed. “Are you kidding? I’m going to have you tell her.”

  Chris started to argue but the palace communications director gave the signal that it was time to begin and everyone in the room snapped into place. It was a full house, standing room only as his council, parliament, and the press clamored to hear what he had to say.

  Nick approached the podium in the room where he would become king in a few weeks and faced the crowd filled with supporters and detractors.