“Oh!” she cried, the breath knocked out of her for a moment.
“Looking for something?” he asked coldly, his face inches from hers.
She gasped. When she’d considered the dangers involved in what she was doing, she had never pictured the outcome quite this way. He was holding her down by her wrists and his long, hard body was on top of hers. She’d never been under a man’s body before. How could it be so scary and so thrilling at the same time?
“Let me go!” she cried, struggling for only a moment. The more she tried to move beneath him, the worse things got.
“Can’t do that,” he said calmly. He was almost smiling now, as though the first shock of finding her leaning over his bed had passed and he was more amused than alarmed. “If I let you go, I’ll have to wake up from this dream, and I rather like it so far.”
She glared up at him. It was humiliating to realize he thought so little of her chances of doing anything to hurt him that he could take this so casually. And even joke about it! That made her furious. All her fears faded as she took in the indignity of it all.
“What is the matter with you?” she demanded. “Or do you always welcome strange women into your bed like this?”
“I don’t know.” His face came nearer and the next thing she knew he’d moved in closer and was nuzzling against the side of her neck, breathing in her scent as though he enjoyed it. “You don’t actually seem all that strange to me,” he murmured huskily.
She drew in a sharp breath and alarm shivered through her. What was he doing? She’d heard stories about this prince, lurid tales of sexual escapades and romantic adventures whispered by women who seemed to know what they were talking about. Maybe he was used to making love to any woman who happened to tumble into his bed. Maybe he thought this sort of thing was normal.
Well, despite the fact that his face against her skin was deliciously seductive, she wasn’t used to it and she didn’t think it was normal. In fact, she wouldn’t put up with it at all.
“Get away from me!” she cried, trying to twist to the side.
He drew back, looking down at her, but still holding her prisoner with his body.
“You know, I was just lying here, sleeping peacefully,” he noted, “and you were the one who invaded my space.”
He was right and she had to admit it. She was still glaring at him, but her heart wasn’t pounding in her throat any longer. Maybe she could think things over a bit more rationally now. Maybe it was time to try another angle.
“I’m sorry,” she said, trying to sound sincere and only partially succeeding. “I…I didn’t mean to. I was just… Well, I wasn’t trying to wake you. I thought I could just get in and out without bothering you.”
He was studying her face as though this whole thing was puzzling him. Despite everything, she couldn’t help but notice how appealing he looked with his dark hair falling over his forehead. There was nothing between them but her light cotton nightgown and a thin, silky sheet and she was beginning to feel more of him than was safe.
“I…I’ll just go now,” she added hopefully.
His brilliant eyes were heavy-lidded as he gazed down at her. “You promise?”
She blinked up at him. “Promise what?”
“That you’ll go? Maybe go burglarize some other house and let me sleep?”
“Uh…”
He meant it. She realized his voice sounded groggy. He really was tired and he really did just want her to leave him alone. At least, that was the way his words came across to her. That was a relief. The trouble was, she couldn’t do what he was asking. Not really.
Reading her mind by the look on her face, he groaned, closing his eyes for a second. “You don’t want to go, do you?”
“I…well, it’s raining.” She was only pointing out the obvious.
“I see.” He looked exhausted. “So you’re not planning to go anywhere when you come right down to it.”
She couldn’t lie to the man—not about this anyway. “Well, no, not until the storm passes. You can’t expect me to…”
He was laughing. Softly laughing, but laughing nonetheless. She frowned up at him, offended.
“What’s so funny?”
“You.” He rolled off her and lay back against the pillows. “You haven’t been at this burglarizing business long, have you? Maybe you ought to rethink this as a career path. You don’t seem to have much of a knack for it.”
Pulling herself up to a sitting position and pulling her nightdress decorously around her knees, she glared down at him. “I wasn’t trying to burglarize you.”
He frowned as though all this was just too much to deal with right now. His gaze flickered over her, lingering on where her breasts were easily visible beneath the flimsy fabric.
“Well, if this was an attempted seduction, you need a few pointers in that realm as well.” He yawned. “But I’m afraid I’m going to have to pass for now. I can barely keep my eyes open and…” Suddenly he frowned, staring at her in the morning gloom. “Wait a minute. Do I know you?”
“I…” She thought fast. It was probably safer to let him know they did have a connection of sorts. He was going to find out eventually anyway. “My name is Abby Donair. You’ve probably seen me before. Maybe here in lake country in the old days. Or more recently, at the palace. I’ve been living with my uncle, Dr. Zaire.”
His brow cleared with recognition. “Ah yes, the good doctor. The man who knows all our deepest secrets.”
“I don’t know about that.” She looked at him sharply, wondering what he meant and pretty sure it wasn’t good. Quickly she tried to make things clear. “I mean, he’s never told me anything about you.”
“Good.” He squinted at her. “Yes, I remember you now. You were just at my sister’s birthday luncheon last month, weren’t you? I think I remember noticing you. You played a piece on the piano.”
She nodded reluctantly, remembering with embarrassment that she hadn’t exactly stunned the world with her musical talent that day. “Yes, that was me bumbling my way through ‘Moonlight Sonata’. I was horrible.”
He grinned. “I guess I wasn’t listening very well. I remember thinking you were cute as a button.”
She gaped at him in astonishment, surprised that he would even have noticed her at all.
But he wasn’t in the mood for conversation. He sighed heavily. “God, I’m just so tired. I’m treading water here. I’ve got to sleep. Can we continue this later?”
“Oh. You mean…?”
“I mean, I should be ushering you off the premises and generally acting like the property owner I’m supposed to be, but I can’t seem to summon the energy. So I’m going to trust you not to slit my throat or rob me blind. Okay?”
“Okay.” She gave him an exasperated look. “I don’t really foresee getting the urge to do either, if you want to know the truth.”
“Great. I’ll just sleep on top of my wallet so as to remove all temptation.” He reached out to take the wallet off the nightstand and put it under his pillow. Then he yawned again. “Okay. Then I’ll see you in a few hours. Good night.”
He closed his eyes, sank down into the pillows and seemed to drift off with no further ado. She stared at him. He really was the most