Royal Christmas: Royal Love-Child, Forbidden Marriage

‘Thank goodness for that,’ he said, his eyes meeting Phoebe’s over Christian’s head. Phoebe smiled in gratitude, amazed and thankful at how effortlessly Leo had diverted Christian from the thorny question of his relations. Yet Leo was charming, always had been; why not with children as well as women? That was why he was so dangerous.

‘We should go,’ she said a bit stiltedly, conscious of Leo’s warm gaze on her, as well as the fact that she hadn’t had time to blow-dry her hair. It framed her face in wild, dark curls, and she could see Leo eyeing them. Did she not look smart enough? He turned back to Christian.

‘Yes, we should. The car, not to mention the royal jet, is waiting.’

‘Royal jet?’ Christian repeated, and his eyes bugged out. ‘Really?’

‘Yes, Amarnes is an island. We’ll take my limousine to the airport, and fly from there.’

‘Wow.’ Christian looked completely thrilled now, and Phoebe managed a smile.

‘Pretty cool, eh?’ she said, keeping her voice light even as her heart hammered within her in a staccato beat that seemed to say two weeks, two weeks, two weeks. Only two weeks.

Leo stepped in front of her, taking the suitcase from her with an easy smile. ‘Please. Allow me.’

‘Thank you,’ she murmured and with Christian by her side she followed Leo down the stairs.

They didn’t speak as he loaded the cases in the back of the limo himself, or even when they arranged themselves on the plush leather seats, Christian’s eyes wide as he took in the mini-bar and fresh flowers.

Leo slipped into the limo across from her, and she was achingly aware of his presence, his heat, his scent. Her fingers felt thick and clumsy as she fumbled with Christian’s seat belt, wishing her senses were not so heightened when it came to Leo and yet craving it—him—anyway.

‘Here.’ Quietly, competently, Leo clicked Christian’s buckle closed, his long brown fingers over hers. Touching hers. And in her emotionally heightened state, Phoebe felt a rush of something—what? Gratitude, or something more? No, something less, something so basic, this fascination with Leo, with his aura of excitement and danger.

Except right now he wasn’t being dangerous. He was just being kind.

‘Thank you,’ she mumbled before sitting back and buckling her own seat belt.

‘Not a problem.’ Leo leaned back against his seat, stretching his legs in front of him. ‘Now, Christian, would you like something to drink? I think there’s orange juice in the fridge, as well as some cola if your mother allows it.’

‘Christian doesn’t …’ Phoebe began, but her son was already leaning forward to inspect the contents of the mini-bar.

‘All right, fine,’ she finally said, striving for that light tone once more. ‘This is a holiday after all.’

‘Exactly.’ Leo smiled, and Phoebe tried to ignore the effect of that gesture on her insides, tried to think of something else—anything else—as the limo pulled away from the kerb and headed into town, towards the Holland Tunnel.

They rode in silence to a private airstrip on the outskirts of the city. A sleek silver jet waited there, with the recognisable emblem of the twin eagles emblazoned on its tail.

‘Wow,’ Christian breathed as they boarded the plane. Leather sofas and a mahogany coffee table adorned with yet more freshly cut flowers made Phoebe feel as if she were entering a living room rather than an airplane. Christian was looking at all the luxury with wide eyes, and Phoebe tried to suppress a spurt of anxiety. She’d been afraid the royal family would want more of Christian … but what if he wanted more of them? How could she compete with all of this?

‘Just enjoy it,’ Leo murmured, his lips nearly brushing her ear, his breath fanning her cheek. Uneasily Phoebe wondered if she’d spoken aloud. Or had Leo just read her mind?

She chose not to answer, busying herself with settling Christian. Soon enough they were all seated and the plane was gliding down the runway and then up into a grey November sky.

‘I’ve never been on a plane before,’ Christian said after a few minutes of rather tense silence. His cheeks were flushed and he was clutching his dinosaur to him. ‘That I remember, anyway.’

Leo glanced at him, his features seeming to soften. ‘Then this should be quite an adventure for you.’

‘I guess so,’ Christian mumbled, shooting Phoebe an uncertain look. Phoebe knew that underneath the excitement her son was confused, and she would have to talk to him soon. Explain … except how could she explain? She wasn’t even sure what was going to happen, and the last thing she wanted to do was tell him about relatives who might ultimately reject him.

Two weeks, her mind reminded her, her heart still beating fast. Two weeks, two weeks, two weeks.

The next few hours passed in silence punctuated only by Christian’s occasional question—did they have pizza in Amarnes, and what about milkshakes?—as well as the tinny roar of his dinosaur as he played.

Phoebe sat tensely across from him, watching as Leo took out a sheaf of papers and a gold-plated pen and set to work. What was he working on? she wondered. What kind of work did a playboy prince have to do? Except he wasn’t a playboy prince any more, she reminded herself. He was the heir apparent.

‘What are you doing?’ she asked when Christian had fallen into a doze and the silence seemed to stretch on for ever, taut and unyielding. Leo glanced up.

‘A pet project of mine,’ he said with a little shrug. ‘Facts and figures, very boring.’

‘You’re quick to dismiss many things as boring,’ Phoebe replied, and with surprise she heard the teasing lilt in her voice. Was she actually flirting? Or just being friendly?

Leo shrugged again. ‘It’s a charity,’ he said after a moment. ‘I’m one of the trustees and I’m simply going over the endowment figures.’

‘What kind of charity?’ Phoebe asked, now genuinely curious.

‘A relocation programme for political refugees. Amarnes was a neutral country during World War Two, and we took in many of those fleeing persecution. I like to see the tradition continue today.’

‘Very admirable,’ Phoebe said, yet her mind was spinning. This new version of Leo—a man who concerned himself with refugees—bore little resemblance to the pleasure-seeking playboy she’d encountered six years ago.

Had he really changed so much? Yet his smile was as sardonic as ever as he remarked in a drawl, ‘It’s easy to be admirable when you have the money and time.’ He capped his pen and put his papers away. ‘You should get some sleep. The jet lag can be brutal.’ And, seeming to dismiss her, he settled back in his own seat and closed his eyes.

Although he kept his eyes closed, sleep remained elusive. Leo was aware of the uncomfortable prickling of his conscience as he’d spoken with Phoebe. He wanted to gain her trust, he needed her pliant, and the best way to do that was to show her how he’d changed. How he was on her side. It would be all too easy, and yet when the opportunities came Leo found he didn’t want to take them. He didn’t want to use Phoebe. He wanted to … protect her. What a ridiculous and inappropriate notion. The only reason he was bringing her to Amarnes at all was because he knew he couldn’t pay her off in New York. Sooner or later he would find a way to keep her out of the picture—or at least removed from it.

Just like your own mother was.

His jaw clenched and he forced his conscience back into the shadowy corner of his mind, where it had remained for most of his playboy years. Back then he hadn’t had a conscience because he hadn’t cared; he was the unneeded spare, and so he’d do what he damn well liked.

Yet Anders’s abdication had changed everything. Leo felt the familiar guilt eat at him and he pushed it resolutely away. For the last six years he’d lived the life of a monk, a saint, chaste and diligent, and had won the respect of his people. He’d put his country and crown first, always, and he would continue to do so. No matter what it cost him … or Phoebe.

They were more important than the tender feelings of a woman he couldn’t afford to care about. He shouldn’t even want to care, he told himself irritably. Phoebe was an inconvenience, that was all. All she could be.

Forcing himself to relax, to forget that woman sitting across from him with every anxiety and fear reflected in her wide grey eyes even as she kept her tone light and upbeat for the sake of her son, Leo finally—by sheer force of will—drifted into a doze.

Phoebe couldn’t sleep. Christian was snoring, his cheek pillowed against the plastic back of his dinosaur, and even Leo seemed to have dozed off, yet Phoebe sat there, tense, anxious, too many emotions and questions and desires coursing through her. What would happen when they arrived in Amarnes? How would the king receive Christian … and her? What was she going to do?

Too many questions, and none of them had answers. Yet. Phoebe pushed them away, and her gaze fell on Leo’s sleeping form. He’d shed his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his crisp white shirt, exposing strong, tanned forearms now loosely crossed. Phoebe’s gaze fell on those arms and stayed there, noticing the fine dark hairs, the sinewy muscles, the long, elegantly tapered fingers. She knew she should look away—she should want to look away—but she couldn’t.

That dark tug of fascination was pulling at her insides, and while Leo slept she found her gaze roving over him almost hungrily, noting the cropped, dark hair, the chiselled cheekbones and sculpted lips, the ridiculously long eyelashes. She let her gaze drop from his face to his shoulders—how did a plain white shirt emphasise the powerful muscles of his chest so wonderfully?—and lower still to his trim waist and hips and long legs, stretched out in front of him, his butter-soft leather loafers just inches from her own feet.

He was a beautiful man. A dark angel with the heart of a devil … or so he’d seemed all those years ago. But now …?

‘What would have happened, do you suppose, if you’d met me first?’

The question he’d asked her six years ago slipped slyly into her mind, and the answer Phoebe had given back then—nothing—seemed to echo uselessly through her.

All right, so she was attracted to him. Phoebe straightened in her seat and forced herself to look away, out of the window. The plane had risen above the city fog and now there were only a few wisps of cottony cloud in an otherwise perfect blue sky.

Of course she was attracted to him; he positively oozed sexuality and charm. And, to be perfectly blunt, she’d been without male companionship of any kind for too long.