Resisting Alexandre (Knight Security 0.5) (12 page)

“Dominating,” he corrected. “You’re so beautiful.” He bent to place a kiss in turn on each of her pebble-hard nipples. “Now, into the bath with you.” He straightened to turn her in the direction of the bath. “You can sit and watch as I undress.”

Stazzi didn’t really need any incentive to climb into the hot, scented bubbles, but if she had, that would definitely have been it. She quickly gathered up her hair and secured it on her crown so that it wouldn’t get wet. “Go ahead,” she invited once she had stepped into the bath and sunk beneath the bubbles, leaning back as she turned to watch Alexandre.

He held her gaze as he unbuttoned and removed his shirt, baring muscular arms and chest, and the defined muscles of his abdomen before unfastening his trousers and removing them too. He now wore only a pair of fitted black boxers that did very little to conceal the aroused bulge beneath.

God, he was beautiful, like some sun-kissed Greek god come to life. Tall, golden, muscular, his dark hair tousled rakishly over his brow.

Stazzi’s breath caught in her throat, her nipples tightening as he removed that last article of clothing and unabashedly revealed the fullness of his aroused cock jutting up from that nest of dark curls. It was just as she remembered from last night: thick, and at least eight inches long, the blood vessels clearly defined along its length, and so engorged, the skin was pulled completely back to reveal the leak of moisture on the mushroomed purple head.

“You have to stop looking at me like that, or I’ll forget about the bath and take you straight to bed instead,” he groaned.

Stazzi laughed throatily even as she reached out to stroke her fingers along that steel-encased-in-velvet cock.

“Shift forward,” Alexandre encouraged gruffly before stepping into the bath behind her and then sinking into the water. He slid the long length of his legs either side of her, his cock nestling against her bottom, as he pulled her back to lie against the heat of his chest. His arms moved about her waist and his hands cupped beneath her breasts. “I could get used to this,” he murmured with satisfaction as he lay back against the top end of the bath.

So could Stazzi. It felt somehow…right, to be lying here in a scented bath in her candlelit bathroom with Alexandre. Arousing and yet comfortable at the same time. As if it were meant to be. As if
they
were meant to be. They obviously weren’t, because Alexandre was a prince, and she was…well, the daughter of an impoverished English duke who had to work for a living. But for the moment, she could
pretend
they were meant to be together.

Couldn’t she?

She relaxed back against Alexandre with a contented sigh. “I had the most horrible day,” she could admit now. “I was so worried about you. Are you sure the doctors are happy for you to be released so soon from the clinic?”

“
I’m
happy to be released from the clinic.” Alexandre’s chest rumbled against her back when he spoke.

“Do you have any idea what you ate to cause that reaction?”

Alexandre didn’t want to discuss his suspicions with Anastazia until he had positive proof. “Have I thanked you yet for saving my life?” He nuzzled his lips against the curve of her throat.

“Yes—”

“But not appropriately,” he murmured. “I believe a thank-you for saving my life needs to be said with much more than words.” He continued to taste the length of her throat with his lips and tongue as his fingers began to stroke lightly over her engorged nipples, and was instantly rewarded by her groan of pleasure. “You’re so responsive—” He broke off as he heard the sound of raised voices outside the bathroom. “What on earth…?” He didn’t get any further in his enquiry as the bathroom door was suddenly flung open.

“Whoa.” A stunned Lissa Forsythe recoiled slightly as she stood in the bathroom doorway. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that…” she muttered to herself.

The disgruntled bodyguard stood behind her. “Your Highness—”

“Alexandre, will you tell this big baboon to take his hands off me?” Lissa attempted to shake off the bodyguard’s grip on her arm. “That I happen to live here too?”

“Oh good Lord,” Stazzi groaned. “Would someone just shoot me now!” There wasn’t enough room in the bath for her to sink completely beneath the bubbles, but if there had been, that was exactly what she would have done.

Could this situation be any more embarrassing?

Not only was Lissa now in the bathroom with them, but also one of Alexandre’s bodyguards. All while the two of them sat completely naked in the bath together.

Maybe she should just sell tickets?

Roll up, roll up, come and see Prince Alexandre of Androcco naked in the bath with his
— With his what? Stazzi had no idea what she was to Alexandre. Except he had to be as embarrassed as she was at being seen by one of his employees in such a compromising position?

“It’s okay, Christophe.” Alexandre didn’t sound in the least embarrassed by their audience as he spoke calmly behind her. “Miss Forsythe really does live here. Good to see you again, Lissa,” he added dryly.

She shot the bodyguard an “I told you so” glance before answering Alexandre. “I’m not sure you’re going to continue thinking that after I tell you that the street outside is full of paparazzi.” Lissa grimaced.

Stazzi tensed. “What…?”

Lissa moved farther into the bathroom. “It’s all over the news and social media.”

“What is?” Alexandre prompted guardedly.

Lissa’s eyes flashed darkly. “If I remember correctly, the gist of the story seems to be Prince Alexandre of Androcco narrowly escaping an assassination attempt last night by a female employee of the Meyers Hotel.”

Stazzi felt the blood drain from her cheeks as she stared at her friend wordlessly for several long seconds, before finally finding her voice. “Me?” she squeaked.

Lissa’s mouth thinned. “They haven’t named any names yet, but I don’t think it will take long for one of them to sniff out which employee of the Meyers Hotel has been suspended.”

Oh God
…

Chapter 11

“Have Tomas bring the car round to the back of the building,” Alexandre instructed Christophe distractedly, his attention on Anastazia rather than the other man.

He had quickly dismissed the two intruders from the bathroom after Lissa dropped the double bombshell of the reporters outside and the belief that Anastazia had tried to kill him. His attempt to take her in his arms, to comfort her, had been shrugged off, and any conversation too as she got out of the bath and wrapped a towel around herself before hurriedly departing, probably to go to her bedroom. Certainly she hadn’t been in the sitting room when Alexandre went there after making a brief telephone call and then dressing.

Anastazia had entered the sitting room quietly ten minutes or so later, but she hadn’t spoken a word to any of them in the time since. She sat in one of the armchairs, her feet up on the chair, arms wrapped defensively about her knees, and her face deathly pale.

How the fuck had the media even gotten hold of the story at all, let alone such a wrong version of what had happened?

Anastazia had
saved
his life, not tried to take it, and been suspended from her job for her trouble. Alexandre had dealt with that problem and would talk to Daniel Meyers again once he returned to the hotel, but even so, the other man wasn’t going to be pleased at having all that media attention at the Meyers Hotel.

He knew from personal experience that the more any of them tried to deny the story currently circulating, the more the media would sniff around, scenting blood. What the press thought he was now doing at the apartment of the woman who was supposed to have attempted to murder him was anybody’s guess!

“Unfortunately, the reporters are at the back of the building too,” Lissa revealed, also looking at Anastazia with concern.

This was fucking ridiculous. What—

Alexandre frowned as it was the door to the apartment that burst open unexpectedly this time, and Asher Knight walked in.

Lissa’s angrily flushed face told Alexandre that if it had been left to her, the other man would never have
been
invited in. “What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded.

The hardness of Asher’s gaze swept unemotionally over the four people in the apartment before he answered her. “I was invited.”

“Not by me you weren’t—”

“Not everything is about you,” Ash dismissed coldly before his gaze settled on Alexandre. He gave a barely perceptible nod in response to Alexandre’s questioning glance.

Shit. Shit, shit,
shit
.

This situation had just become one hundred percent more complicated.

Alexandre’s hands clenched at his sides. “Ash, I need you to take Anastazia and Lissa—”

“I am not going anywhere with him!” Lissa protested.

“Oh, give it a rest, sweetheart.” Ash’s smile was cold and mocking. “Stazzi needs to be taken away from here, and Alexandre obviously assumed you would want to go with her.”

“I—”

“I’m not going anywhere either.” Anastazia stood up. “I refuse to be driven out of my own home. Besides,” she added as Alexandre would have spoken, “I’m pretty sure the reporters will leave as soon as Alexandre does.”

He gave her a frowning, searching glance but couldn’t tell any of Anastazia’s thoughts from the coolness of her expression or the way her gaze avoided meeting his.

Did she blame him for the mess her life had become?

Probably, Alexandre acknowledged heavily. Because, in this particular case, he was to blame. Everything that was happening to Anastazia now was because of him. Because of who he was, Prince Alexandre of Androcco.

Maybe she was right and he should leave? He didn’t want to, wanted nothing more than to take Anastazia in his arms and tell her that everything would be all right. But inwardly he knew that wasn’t an option right now, and that his priority lay elsewhere. Anastazia was too upset at the moment to be in the least receptive to any explanations from him, but hopefully he could come back and speak to her once he had dealt with this other situation.

“How did the media get hold of this story?” Lissa was the one to prompt shrewdly. “The Meyers Hotel is known for its discretion, has hosted kings, as well as princes,” she added dryly. “I’m pretty sure the clinic you went to would have been the same. I certainly didn’t tell anyone. Your bodyguards seem a trifle obsessive in regard to your safety. So who else is there?”

Stazzi had been wondering the same thing. And the only conclusion she had come to was that Alexandre was going to think she was responsible. By broadcasting the story, she would lose her job, yes, but no doubt the paparazzi would pay big money for an exclusive story on Prince Alexandre. And who better to tell that story than the woman who had shared his bed the previous night?

The fact that Alexandre wanted Asher to whisk her away, out of sight and hearing of the media, would seem to confirm that was Alexandre’s take on the situation.

She straightened her spine. “I repeat, I’m not going anywhere.” She looked at Alexandre for the first time since Asher had arrived, feeling as if she had been punched in the chest when she saw the coldness of Alexandre’s expression. He looked nothing at all like the playful lover she had been in the bath with only a short time ago. “If I do feel the need to get away, I’ll go and visit my parents for a few days.”

“Ash will drive you—”

“I’ll drive her,” Lissa cut in firmly. “It’s almost the weekend, and I could do with a few days away from the city myself.” She shot Ash a censorious glare.

“Well, that matter seems to be settled.” Alexandre gave a terse nod. “I recommend waiting awhile after I’ve gone before attempting to leave. One of my men will wait outside to accompany you wherever you wish to go.”

Stazzi had the distinct impression Alexandre wanted to get as far away from her as he possibly could. He might even cut his visit to England short and return immediately to Androcco. And no one was allowed on the island without his permission.

She had known from the beginning their relationship was going nowhere, but she hadn’t envisaged the two of them parting quite as badly as this. Suspicion on Alexandre’s part. Icy dread on hers.

Incredible that this man had become so important to her in such a short time, but there was no denying the pain she felt at the thought of never seeing Alexandre again. Being suspended from her job, being hounded by the press, both paled in comparison to that heartache.

“I—” She broke off as her mobile buzzed with an incoming call.

“Don’t answer that!” Alexandre instructed as she would automatically have taken the call.

She raised startled eyes. “You think it’s a reporter?”

“I think there’s a good chance it could be, yes,” he confirmed.

“They found out your address, so it’s highly probable they know your mobile number too,” Asher confirmed as the buzzing ended abruptly. Only for the landline to ring seconds later. “And your landline number,” he added dryly.

Stazzi stared at the telephone on the breakfast bar in the kitchen area, knowing it would go to voice mail, but totally unprepared for the familiar voice that spoke after “please leave a message after the tone.”

“If you’re there, Stazzi, then pick up the damned phone,” Will, her ex-boyfriend, instructed impatiently. “We need to talk. I have no idea what the hell is going on, but I want—”

The audible message ended abruptly as Stazzi snatched up the hands-free receiver, pressing it against her ear, looking at no one before she walked out of the room and down the hallway to her bedroom.

“—you to know that I don’t want to hear so much as my name mentioned in connection with you and whatever scandal you’ve got yourself involved in,” Will continued to rant. “I have a reputation to uphold—”

“The only reputation you have as far as I’m concerned is that of a two-timing bastard,” Stazzi cut in coldly as she paced the confines of her bedroom. “But thank you so much for your support in what is a horrible situation.”

“Created by you from the sound of it,” Will came back scathingly. “What the hell are you doing getting involved with a playboy prince in the first place? Jesus, the two of us broke up only a few days ago and—”