Ways To Ruin A Royal Reputation (Mills & Boon Modern) (Signed, Sealed…Seduced, Book 1) by Dani Collins (best contemporary novels .TXT) 📕

“I don’t know. The ones you have affairs with. Discreetly. On private islands.” She turned to the view because this was a conversation they had to have, but she didn’t know how.

“Actually, this is where I hide from those legions of women, to rest and regain my virility,” he said dryly. “I’ve allowed my sister to stay here, but you’re the only person I’ve brought as my guest, female or otherwise.”

“Ever?” She moved to another corner.

“Why is that so surprising? Exactly how many lovers do you think I’ve had?”

“Enough to get really good at sex,” she said over her shoulder, as if she didn’t care. She did care. A lot more than she ought to.

“You’re really good at sex.” He came up behind her to trace his fingertips in a line down her back. “Should I ask how many men you’ve been with?”

“How do you know it’s just men?” She swung around and threw back her head in challenge.

He didn’t laugh. Or take her seriously.

“You really do have to work harder to shock me,” he admonished. “I honestly don’t care what you’ve done or with whom so long as it was consensual and safe enough that I don’t have to worry about my own health.”

Her heart faltered. She wondered if she could shock him with the deplorable thing she’d done with her teacher, but he set his hands on the wall on either side of her waist, crowding her into the corner. Now all she could see was his mouth, and her thoughts scattered.

“I’m very interested in what sort of history you’d like to have. With me. What do you want to do, Amy?”

“Nothing kinky,” she warned, reflexively touching his chest. “Just normal things.”

“Normal?” His smile was wide, but bemused. “Like tennis and jigsaw puzzles?”

“Yes,” she said pertly. “And read books to one another. Austen preferably, but I’ll allow some Dickens so long as we have a safe word.”

“Nicholas Nickleby?” The corners of his mouth deepened. “Tease. Will you sleep in my bed and continue to ruin me for every other woman alive?”

It was flirty nonsense. Banter. But she was incredibly sensitive to words like “ruin.”

She swallowed. “I don’t want to be your downfall, Luca. I don’t want...”

He sobered and brushed a wisp of hair away from her cheek. “What?”

She didn’t want to get hurt. Not again.

“I don’t want to get confused about what this is.” She touched a button on his shirt. “It’s just an affair. Right? For a couple of weeks? To, um, take the worst of the poison out of what’s going on out there?” She jerked her chin toward the world at large.

He backed off, equally somber. “We barely know each other,” he reminded her. “I’m not saying I don’t take this seriously, but I can’t promise anything permanent. I’ve never had the luxury of contemplating a future with anyone. Marriage has always been something I would undertake with a woman vetted by a team of palace advisers.” His mouth twisted and he dropped his hands to his sides, fully stepping away. “I still have to think that way until Sofia marries and produces our next ruler.”

“So you’re offering an affair.” She hugged herself. “That’s fine, but I need to be clear on what to expect since we’ll be pretending it’s...more.”

After a long moment, he gave a jerky nod. “Yes,” he agreed. “Just an affair.”

And wasn’t that romantic.

She looked to where the sun had set and the sky was fading. The glow of excitement inside her had dimmed and dulled, too.

“We should go down while we still have light,” she suggested, more to pivot from how bereft she suddenly felt.

He looked as though he wanted to say something, but stifled it and nodded.

He went in front of her, promising to catch her if she missed a foot on the narrow, uneven steps. It was dizzying and nerve-racking, and she clung tightly to the rope that was strung through iron rings mounted to the wall, thinking the whole time, Don’t fall, don’t fall.

But she feared she probably would.

CHAPTER NINE

LUCA WAS RESTLESS and prickly. He blamed the fact he was at a crossroads, having given up the throne, but not yet having found his place in the new order. The work that typically dominated his thoughts now fell to his sister, and the mental vacuum allowed him to dwell on the public’s reaction to his fall from grace.

And the woman who had caused it.

They weren’t dressing for dinner, but Amy had disappeared to call her business partners, leaving him to nurse a drink and contemplate how completely she seemed to have shut down once he’d pronounced that this was only an affair.

Did she want it to be more? Did he?

He felt as though he’d disappointed her with his answer. Hurt her. That frustrated him. He’d been as honest as possible. Up until that moment, she’d been her bright and funny self. An amusing companion who made him feel alive in ways he had never experienced.

Damn but that was a lot of feelings. He didn’t do feelings. They were messy and tended to create the sort of disaster he’d been scrupulously trained to avoid. He’d accomplished what he wanted by giving in to his lust for Amy, but it was time to go back to being his circumspect, disciplined self.

Which meant he shouldn’t have a real affair with her, but the mere thought of denying himself when she was willing caused a host of feelings that were more like a swarm of hornets inside him. Which was exactly why he shouldn’t indulge—

He swore aloud and set aside his drink as though he could set aside his brooding as easily. Filtering through his texts and emails, he picked up one from an old friend, Emiliano. They had met through their shared interest in emerging tech. Emiliano had since increased his family’s fortune by developing tools for facial recognition software.

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