Page 68
Story: Modern Romance June 2025 5-8
Being around him was like standing before an approaching thunderstorm. Everything felt charged and weighted with anticipation.
Annalena rubbed her hands up her arms as she left the formal gardens and stepped onto the springy turf of the private royal park. Ahead, a sweep of grass curved between stands of large trees to where afternoon sunlight glittered on a small lake.
She paused, inhaling the scent of growing things, then exhaling some of her tension.
Soon he’d have to acknowledge the truth and they’d come to an agreement. Then she could leave.
She didn’t want to spend another night in his palace.
Down near the lake, they’d said.
What was she doing there, far from the palace buildings? Was this a tactic to make him come to her? To show she had the upper hand?
That would be petty and, despite the earthquake of disruption Annalena of Edelforst had caused, he didn’t think her that.
Troublesome, yes.
Worrying.
An absolute disaster, for his country and everything Benedikt was trying to do here.
Yet despite the shockwaves still reverberating through him, not all his thoughts about Annalena were negative.
Because those thoughts don’t come from your brain, but a more primitive part of your body.
Her combination of touch-me-not condescension and earnestness, not to mention a mouth created for kissing, kept distracting him. Her eyes flashed and her cheeks flushed when she spoke about the hydroelectric project and he’d wondered what else would excite her passion.Whoelse.
If she knew, would she use his distraction to her advantage?
She was here to negotiate, or said she was. A savvy negotiator turned any weakness to their advantage. He needed to do the same.
Benedikt paused by the water. She was nowhere in sight but must be close. Somewhere nearby security staff were keeping a discreet eye on her. They hadn’t reported her trying to leave.
That was one positive at least. One positive out of a minefield of negatives.
He ploughed a hand through his hair. He couldn’t believe how the day had unfolded. One after another, facts had been assembled and the truth he’d believed all his life distorted into something completely different.
But he didn’t have the luxury of personal feelings. He had a nation to consider. That had to be his focus.
A sound caught his attention and he headed towards it, pine needles muffling his footsteps. He heard muttering then an off-key voice softly singing the refrain from a hard-rock anthem of a decade ago.
Benedikt paused. It couldn’t be…
But he knew that voice. That husky, unmusical, but strangely beguiling voice belonged to the buttoned-up woman who threatened his country’s peace and prosperity.
It made her seem approachable. Vulnerable. Not the keen-eyed competitor ready to rip the kingdom from his hands. Nor the foe whose femininity sidetracked him.
He stepped into the forest and there she was, squatting before a large tree, phone in hand, photographing something on the ground. The singing became a periodic hum as she shifted her weight, leaning in for a better picture.
Benedikt rocked back on his feet, taking in the view. She wore a T-shirt of dark khaki and jeans that clung taut against the curves of her backside, hips and thighs.
He swallowed and shifted his weight.
He must’ve made a noise because she swung round, twisting on the balls of her feet, her long ponytail flying across her shoulder.
Thereshe was, the woman he’d seen on her driver’s licence. Surprised but not uneasy, features alight. The set of her shoulders, the glow in her eyes and the curve of her lips told him she was happy.
Or had been until he’d appeared. He watched two tiny vertical lines appear above the bridge of her nose and her expression turn blank.
Annalena rubbed her hands up her arms as she left the formal gardens and stepped onto the springy turf of the private royal park. Ahead, a sweep of grass curved between stands of large trees to where afternoon sunlight glittered on a small lake.
She paused, inhaling the scent of growing things, then exhaling some of her tension.
Soon he’d have to acknowledge the truth and they’d come to an agreement. Then she could leave.
She didn’t want to spend another night in his palace.
Down near the lake, they’d said.
What was she doing there, far from the palace buildings? Was this a tactic to make him come to her? To show she had the upper hand?
That would be petty and, despite the earthquake of disruption Annalena of Edelforst had caused, he didn’t think her that.
Troublesome, yes.
Worrying.
An absolute disaster, for his country and everything Benedikt was trying to do here.
Yet despite the shockwaves still reverberating through him, not all his thoughts about Annalena were negative.
Because those thoughts don’t come from your brain, but a more primitive part of your body.
Her combination of touch-me-not condescension and earnestness, not to mention a mouth created for kissing, kept distracting him. Her eyes flashed and her cheeks flushed when she spoke about the hydroelectric project and he’d wondered what else would excite her passion.Whoelse.
If she knew, would she use his distraction to her advantage?
She was here to negotiate, or said she was. A savvy negotiator turned any weakness to their advantage. He needed to do the same.
Benedikt paused by the water. She was nowhere in sight but must be close. Somewhere nearby security staff were keeping a discreet eye on her. They hadn’t reported her trying to leave.
That was one positive at least. One positive out of a minefield of negatives.
He ploughed a hand through his hair. He couldn’t believe how the day had unfolded. One after another, facts had been assembled and the truth he’d believed all his life distorted into something completely different.
But he didn’t have the luxury of personal feelings. He had a nation to consider. That had to be his focus.
A sound caught his attention and he headed towards it, pine needles muffling his footsteps. He heard muttering then an off-key voice softly singing the refrain from a hard-rock anthem of a decade ago.
Benedikt paused. It couldn’t be…
But he knew that voice. That husky, unmusical, but strangely beguiling voice belonged to the buttoned-up woman who threatened his country’s peace and prosperity.
It made her seem approachable. Vulnerable. Not the keen-eyed competitor ready to rip the kingdom from his hands. Nor the foe whose femininity sidetracked him.
He stepped into the forest and there she was, squatting before a large tree, phone in hand, photographing something on the ground. The singing became a periodic hum as she shifted her weight, leaning in for a better picture.
Benedikt rocked back on his feet, taking in the view. She wore a T-shirt of dark khaki and jeans that clung taut against the curves of her backside, hips and thighs.
He swallowed and shifted his weight.
He must’ve made a noise because she swung round, twisting on the balls of her feet, her long ponytail flying across her shoulder.
Thereshe was, the woman he’d seen on her driver’s licence. Surprised but not uneasy, features alight. The set of her shoulders, the glow in her eyes and the curve of her lips told him she was happy.
Or had been until he’d appeared. He watched two tiny vertical lines appear above the bridge of her nose and her expression turn blank.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214