Page 18 of Prince She Shouldn’t Crave (Royal House of Halrovia #2)

Lena strolled through the dimly lit halls of the lake home, as she’d begun calling it.

Today, she’d taken advantage of the time off Gabriel had given her.

Exploring Lauritania’s antique markets in the old, walled part of town.

Having a lovely dinner out with a couple people from work who had accompanied the royal tour; a personal protection officer who’d had the night off too, and Gabriel’s private secretary.

They’d drunk a glass of champagne each, toasting the success of the trip, which was now drawing to a close.

Eaten at a quaint little restaurant with red and white checked tablecloths, tea-light candles on the table, and delicious rustic food.

After dinner she’d left them partying and planning to hit the clubs, whilst she’d returned home.

All the while, she had a prickling sensation of something missing.

As if she shouldn’t be celebrating. Was it…

guilt? She had so much to think about. Her mother’s situation.

How to manage it on her current wage. Should she contact Albert at the Lauritanian palace and ask if Queen Lise was serious about a job?

Everything about her revolted at the idea, even though it would be best for her family.

But what about her? Shouldn’t she be able to do what she wanted, for once, without worrying about everyone else?

She shouldn’t feel this way. She should have been able to enjoy herself like any normal young woman. Gabriel had given her the night off.

Gabriel…

She liked saying his name. Liked that he’d invited her to use it when in private. As if it was some secret between them. Lena knew she shouldn’t be reading too much into it but something about the moments between them recently had seemed special.

He was handsome, self-deprecating. Kind, and he cared.

He trusted her and she found that, despite everything, she trusted him too.

He’d be a wonderful king one day. And she began to wonder, had anyone ever told him that?

Gabriel, you’ll make a great king . Lena only wished that the world could see it as she did.

She felt the weight of her role, wanting to present him at his absolute best, because the public deserved to know him as she saw him.

She’d do everything in her power to show them all.

It was like a fire lit inside her, that sense of protectiveness. But there was something more. Desire. A heat and need whenever she was around him that threatened to overwhelm her and burn away all common sense.

Dangerous, Lena. Dangerous.

There could never be anything between him.

He was her employer, a prince . There was no risk of love here.

She’d never much trusted the emotion anyhow, because look at how well it had gone for her mother.

Spending a lifetime sharing a man, for what?

But perhaps this was what made Gabriel the safest person of all, because she couldn’t expect anything from him.

His position wouldn’t allow it, and that would protect them both.

She walked past his wing on the way to the kitchens to get a cup of hot chocolate before bed.

Hesitated. Stopped. Turned around as if drawn.

Her feet carrying her back along the path she’d just come, deeper into his section of the home.

Wondering if he’d returned from the state dinner yet.

How it had gone. Maybe he’d want to talk with someone about it?

As she approached his suite, Lena glimpsed a sliver of light under his door.

She turned towards it, her feet seeming to carry her without much thought, just the sensation that she was being pulled in his direction.

An itch under her skin telling her she needed to do this.

Before he’d left tonight, he’d looked tired. So very tired.

She supposed trying to shore up your allies and improve your unfairly falling reputation carried significant pressures, not to mention your own ambassador suggesting you marry when it was none of his damned business.

She understood being buried under the weight of obligation after her father had died.

When she’d realised her whole life would have to change.

The fight to find another job, the recognition that she was responsible for her family and their future.

Putting aside her own dreams. What would it be like, instead, to be responsible for a country ?

Maybe Gabriel would have preferred to come out to a simple dinner too. Sharing a glass of champagne and laughter in a little corner restaurant with no care.

Lena knocked. Waited. Listened, barely able to hear anything over the thudding heartbeat in her chest. Then one word.

‘Yes.’

She cracked open the door and continued down a short entrance hall towards the lounge area of his suite, following the dim light.

She almost didn’t see him, standing still at the far end of the room.

In a formal shirt, the top few buttons undone.

Bow tie draped carelessly around his neck.

His arm propped on the mantelpiece, almost negligently holding a tumbler of amber fluid.

Head dropped. It looked as if the mantelpiece was the only thing holding him up.

As if his glass was about to slip from his fingers.

A wiggling sensation started in her belly, like a flock of a thousand birds taking wing.

One look at him took her breath away, because he was one of the most beautiful men she’d ever seen.

Although tonight, he seemed…vulnerable. Standing there as if undone.

She wanted to go to him, offer comfort, offer him everything.

Though, no matter how he looked right now, what she’d come to learn over her time working with him was that his restrained exterior wasn’t evidence of coldness.

It was just he’d never been allowed to be himself, because his parents and courtiers wanted the best parts of him suppressed.

The parts of him that people would relate to. His personality. His feelings.

Gabriel was no automaton. He was a man with passions who should have been allowed to show them.

‘I… It’s late.’ Lena didn’t know why she said it. She should have turned and walked away, leaving him to his own thoughts, but something about tonight told her that he needed some company as much as she did.

His head shot up, flinty blue gaze fixed on her. Even in the dim light of the room she could feel it prickling into her.

‘Lena.’

The way he said her name. The rasp of it. The rough sound scraping like fingernails over her skin. If she hadn’t known better, she might have thought his voice was filled with need. Maybe she needed him too.

This thing between them, it seemed to have taken on a life of its own. Bigger than both of them. The way he looked at her right now, so stark, so intense and burning as if he’d branded her, let Lena know that she hadn’t imagined it.

‘Gabriel.’

He took a swig from his drink. Placed the empty glass on the mantelpiece.

Looked her up and down, in a way that could have been admiring.

She wasn’t sure. Tonight, she’d dressed to go out.

Another wrap round dress. This one of soft, printed silk in jewelled colours, with beaded accents around the neck.

Ruffles round the hem. It drifted about her as she walked and made her feel feminine.

Pretty. Sure, the neck plunged a little lower than she normally wore but she’d never heard anyone complain before.

‘You’ve been out.’ The words sounded almost accusatory.

‘It’s what you do when you’re given the night off by your employer.’

He almost flinched at the word, as if he didn’t want reminding of who he was.

‘Did you have fun?’

‘Yes. Henri, Serge and I went to a little café in the old town. They wanted to continue the party. I came back here.’

‘I’m glad…’ She stiffened and the moment held, pregnant with possibility. ‘Glad that you had a good time.’

Of course he’d want her to have a good time. It wasn’t that he was glad she was back here with him. Was it?

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked.

‘I—I saw the light. I came to see how tonight went.’

His shoulders slumped. He shrugged. ‘It was a typical state dinner.’

‘Well, I’ve never been to one of those so I can only guess. Were you seated next to anyone interesting?’

‘Being the guest of honour, I sat with the King and Queen. It was a sumptuous feast with beautiful food and wine showcasing Lauritania’s finest producers. The Grand State Dinner service was used. I’m told there were over a hundred candles lit for the meal.’

The whole evening sounded incredible, but he recounted what went on as if he were reading a funeral notice.

‘No eligible princesses?’

That stark look returned. ‘There are always eligible princesses, or daughters of dukes, marquesses, earls, counts, viscounts, barons. You name it, they’re there.’

‘Sounds like a fruit salad of peerage.’

‘I’ll never think of them the same, ever again.’ Gabriel chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy kind of sound. ‘A veritable cornucopia, although many of them aren’t as colourful or sweet as fruit.’

There was that tired sound to him again. She stepped forwards, closer. Wanting to reach out, put her hand on his arm. To touch, to comfort. To…more. Say everything was going to be okay, even though she didn’t know what was wrong.

‘You don’t sound like you enjoyed yourself.’

‘Lise and Rafe are always engaging company, but… I wish you’d been there.’

As he said it, his gaze fixed on her but this wasn’t something cool and impassive. It was full of heat. That look scorched her, igniting in her core and burning outward. She shouldn’t be here. This was a mistake in every way, both on his part and on hers, and yet she couldn’t move.