Princess of Estoria (Royal Brides Book 2) Page 2

  She laughed. “And what caused that, may I ask?”

  “Growing up in an environment where I was given everything I want, whenever I want.”

  “Ugh. You’re rich and entitled,” Angela whined.

  “You could say that.”

  Amusement in his eyes gave the distinct impression that he found her assessment humorous. Perhaps saying he was rich was an understatement. He looked like the type who came from old money. Just how rich is he? she wondered.

  “In that case, I’ll have to pass.”

  “No, no. Can I take it back? I’m rich, that’s all. Forget the entitled part.” He leaned closer. “I’m not giving up. I want to spend time with you.”

  Goodness, he smelled good, too. The spicy scent of cologne filled her nostrils. “Maybe you see me as a challenge…?” Angela whispered.

  “No, that’s not it.” He looked boldly into her eyes.

  “Then what is it?”

  “Exactly what I said. I want to get to know you, spend time with you. Let me take you on an evening stroll around the property. No harm in that, am I right? You leave in the morning, and then we’ll never see each other again.”

  Oddly, she didn’t like the idea that they would never see each other again. And besides, what harm would a stroll around the property cause?

  “No answer?” Andres prompted.

  Angela took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll take you up on your offer. But no funny business.”

  “Funny business?” he repeated with a frown.

  “That means, don’t try to kiss me or do anything else outside what would be considered an act between friends.”

  He pursed his lips, ruminating on her rules of engagement. Then he smiled. “I will do my best. But I can’t make you any promises.”

  3

  “It’s quieter back here,” Angela said as they strolled side by side in one of the courtyards. She took a deep breath and inhaled the perfumed air from the roses in the greenhouses.

  “Yes. Much quieter. Calmer. Peaceful,” Andres said.

  The royal family had opened the grounds in front of the palace so citizens could participate in the wedding festivities. Goats, sheep, and cows had been slaughtered, and fruits and vegetables harvested from the palace grounds for the three-day celebration. Traditional Zamibian instruments played music that she could hear in the distance.

  “You’re not talking about this area alone.”

  Andres smiled ruefully. “No. This country in general is so peaceful. I can really relax when I come here. In my own country, I can sometimes feel stifled.”

  “And where is that?”

  He paused. “Estoria. Are you familiar with it?”

  “Vaguely,” she admitted. “Most of my traveling for work tends to be to Asia. But Estoria…that’s western Europe, right?”

  “Right. It’s an island country off the coast of Portugal. We have a little over one million inhabitants.”

  They nodded a greeting to the armed man and woman standing guard on the property. Other guards stood in various places, keeping an eye on the grounds. They wore blue-on-blue military uniforms with a gun on one hip, a dagger on the other, and one hand on ceremonial spears at their sides.

  Andres stopped and pointed at a looming dark land mass way in the distance. “That is Jaro Mountain. Perfect for hiking. There’s a spot I’ve visited a few times where you can look out over the entire city of Jouba. You can see for miles. It’s an amazing sight.”

  “Sounds lovely. I wish I could see it,” Angela murmured.

  “Would you like to? There’s no reason why you can’t.”

  “Tonight?”

  “No better time than tonight. Since you leave tomorrow, correct?”

  Angela bit her bottom lip and wondered if he was serious. “How far away is the mountain?”

  “No more than a fifteen-minute drive. It’s closer than it looks.”

  “Wouldn’t we need mountain-climbing gear or something to get up there?”

  “No, but do you have more comfortable shoes?”

  Angela looked down at her shoes and shook her head. “I only brought heels on this trip since I knew I wouldn’t be staying long.”

  “Don’t worry. All we really need is transportation, and there is plenty of that. Kofi owns over a dozen vehicles, and one of them is a Jeep, which I’ve borrowed in the past when I visited.”

  “You must be on really good terms with him that he lets you borrow his vehicles.”

  He shrugged. “I’ve known him for a while. Come with me, and I’ll show you the view.”

  “I don’t know… are there wild animals up there, like mountain lions?”

  He chuckled. “Not at all. But if there were, I would wrestle them with my bare hands to protect you.”

  She smiled. He was definitely charming. “Oh you would, would you?” She glanced at his hands. “Those hands look pretty smooth to me. They don’t look like they’ve had much to do with wrestling or with any type of manual labor, for that matter.”

  He held up his hands and wiggled his fingers. “You’d be surprised the damage these smooth hands could do.”

  Huh. What did that mean? She arched an eyebrow and he laughed.

  “So, do we go to Jaro Mountain?”

  Angela took another look. Why not? “Okay, but only if you promise you’ll protect me from any dangerous wild animals.”

  “You have nothing to fear when you’re with me,” he promised in a quiet voice.

  He looked intently at her, and her throat went dry. He had a good sense of humor and a lazy, masculine grace, which she suspected was very misleading when coupled with those sharp blue eyes that studied her with unabashed interest. A sense of excitement filled the air, as if she’d stepped into an adventure that was only just beginning to unfold.

  “In that case, let’s go,” she said.

  Moments later, Andres drove them around to the garage in a golf cart. At the open entrance, several men dressed in military garb joked and chatted with each other. Inside, light illuminated a line of vehicles—SUVs, sports cars, and several Mercedes were lined up behind each other. The moment they saw the couple, they immediately became serious and stood stiffly with their arms held rigidly to their sides.

  “Ehk-aley.” One of the men, who appeared to be in his early twenties, greeted them in Mbutu.

  “Ehk-aley,” both Angela and Andres returned.

  Andres said a few more words to the young man, and Angela had the distinct impression that he was talking about her when the guard shifted his gaze briefly to her and nodded.

  Then Andres lapsed into English. “I would like to take this lovely woman for a drive. Is the Jeep available?”

  “Yes, it is. Will you need a driver?” the man asked.

  “Not tonight. We’re going up to Jaro Mountain. We’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

  The guard signaled to a second man, who disappeared down a ramp that led below ground.

  “You speak fluent Mbutu?” Angela asked.

  “Only a few words,” Andres said modestly.

  “Somehow I doubt that,” she said softly, and he just smiled.

  She envied multilingual people. The best she could do was memorize greetings and how to ask where the bathroom was in other languages. Numbers, logic, and interpreting facts was where she excelled, and the skillset served her well in her career as a management consultant.

  A few minutes later, the guard reappeared driving a black Jeep and stopped in front of them. He exited and held the door open for Andres, while the first man opened the door for Angela.

  “Thank you,” she said, climbing in.

  Andres took off down a tree-lined part of the property, exited through another guarded gate, and then rolled out onto the paved road.

  As they cruised along, he opened the sunroof, and Angela gazed up at the star-spattered sky. She let her right hand dangle out the open window and allowed the cool breeze and the sounds of the night to enter. Soon, they were at the base
of the mountain, and the Jeep handled the bumpy terrain well. After a short drive, Andres pulled onto a plateau and stopped.

  “Are we there?” Angela looked around, but she mostly saw trees and bushes.

  “Not yet.” Andres exited the vehicle. He pulled a rolled blanket with a strap from the back and put it over his shoulder and then helped Angela from the Jeep.

  She looked skeptically at the incline. “I’m not going to get very far in these shoes.”

  “We don’t have far to go, but don’t worry about that.” Without warning, he swept her up in his arms.

  “Whoa!” She closed her arms around his neck. “What are you doing? You can’t carry me up the mountain.”

  “We’re taking a well-worn path, but it can still be a bit treacherous, and I don’t want you to damage your delicate feet.”

  Her heart raced out of control. “You’re sure?”

  He arched a brow at her.

  “Fine.”

  He started the ascent and Angela relaxed in his arms. He smelled…amazing. That spicy scent invaded her nostrils again. Clean, fresh, and masculine. Her nipples tightened, and she curbed her initial desire to press her nose into the side of his neck or let her fingers play with the hair at his nape.

  “Comfortable?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she whispered, finding it hard to speak.

  “As I said, this is a well-worn path. Soon you’ll see lamps lighting the way.”

  Sure enough, he banked a corner and a series of lights illuminated the ground, making it easier for them to see.

  “Are these solar powered?” Angela asked.

  “Yes. They charge during the day and light the path at night,” Andres replied.

  She could feel the muscles in his arms stretch and grow taut as he climbed up a craggy incline and bypassed a high, flat rock. They came to a patch of grass under a sprawling tree where a few more lamps were strategically placed. Though the walk didn’t take long, he had to be in excellent physical shape to carry her that distance, and he wasn’t even winded.

  Angela dropped to the ground. “Thank you,” she said.

  She stepped carefully over to the edge and gasped at the view of Jouba before them.

  “Great view, isn’t it?” Andres smiled at her and spread out the blanket.

  “Very nice,” she admitted. “How in the world did you find this place?”

  “A long time ago, when I participated in a charity hike with Kofi. We climbed up the mountain and past the big rock. It was only when we were coming back that I noticed this spot because it’s visible from higher up. Our group stayed for a while, resting, before continuing our descent. I made sure to memorize the path we’d traveled. Now every time I come back to Zamibia, this is one of my stops.”

  He sat down and leaned back on his hands. Angela removed her shoes and joined him, letting her gaze drift over the lights of the capital. The cool air brushed over her face and feet, while locusts and other night insects sang in the darkness around them.

  Andres leaned toward her and pointed. “See over there? All that area used to be empty, but now it’s filled with shops and commercial buildings. Over there is where they plan to build the new hospital. And there—” He leaned closer—so close she felt the warmth from his body and took the scent of him into her lungs again. “There is where they’ll build a new football stadium. Or as you Americans say, soccer.”

  “Are you making fun of us?”

  He reclined onto his elbows. “For not being more appreciative of the greatest sport in the world? Absolutely.”

  “Soccer is becoming more popular in the States. I live in Atlanta, and we have a Major League Soccer team now.”

  “Good for you. That’s progress.”

  “I don’t need your sarcasm.” She shoved him in the ribs, and he caught her arm. For a split second, they stared into each other eyes before his fingers tightened right above her wrist and he pulled her down onto his chest.

  Angela gasped and stared into his eyes. “What are you doing?”

  “You know what I’m doing.” He tucked a swathe of hair behind her ear and then smoothed his fingers down the length of the strands. His features tightened as his eyes followed the movement. “So tell me all about Angela Lipscomb,” he said, his voice husky.

  Her chest constricted at the way his tasty-looking mouth tilted up to the right. “What do you want to know?”

  “Everything. Do you have brothers and sisters? Are your parents still alive? What do you do in Atlanta?”

  Lying on top of him made thinking difficult. She couldn’t help but notice the muscles that contoured his body and feel the erection that prodded her thigh, which she’d wedged between both of his.

  She cleared her throat. “Both of my parents are still alive. I have an older half-sister, from my father’s first marriage. I work as a management consultant for Myers-Gomez Consultants.”

  He folded an arm behind his head, while his free hand continued to roam, easing down her bare arm. He barely touched her, but his fingers felt as if they left the indelible mark of a branding iron.

  “And you?” she asked.

  “My parents divorced when I was nine, and I was raised by my paternal grandfather. My father lives in Spain and my mother lives in Italy with her new husband and two daughters.”

  “What kind of work do you do?” she asked.

  “I’m in investments.”

  “That’s nice and vague.”

  He only smiled.

  “Is there are reason why you didn’t go to live with either of your parents?”

  “My grandfather forbade it.”

  “Forbade it?” she repeated, shocked.

  “He’s a very powerful man,” Andres replied grimly.

  She wanted to ask him more but figured she should shift the conversation. She let her fingernail gently scrape his left eyebrow, the one marred by the slanted scar that ran through it. “How did you get this?”

  His eyes dropped away from hers, and he took her hand. “As a boy, I ran down the stairs, missed my footing, and fell head first.”

  Angela winced. “That sounds awful. I guess you learned your lesson after that?”

  A cloud passed over his features. “I learned a lot of things that day.”

  She thought she saw pain in his eyes. “Andres—”

  He lifted up with a swift motion and captured her mouth. She froze at the unexpected contact. Then her heart thumped against her sternum and she kissed him back. His fingers climbed under her dress, bunching up the fabric as he smoothed it up her thighs to the silky panties that covered her bottom.

  Angela gasped, which gave his tongue the opportunity to intrude into her mouth. Andres sat up so that she was straddling his lap, and shoved her dress higher on her thighs. He kissed across her jaw and sucked on the side of her neck.

  The bulk between his legs sent a signal to her spread thighs of just what he was capable of. Angela moaned, gliding her fingers deep into his thick hair and letting her head fall back to experience the full pleasure of his mouth’s caress. Her eyes fastened on the star-sprinkled night sky, and she paused, suddenly caught in the snare of self-awareness.

  What was she doing on this mountain, aching for a man she barely knew? Ready to let him do just about anything he wanted?

  She pulled back and Andres stopped immediately.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” he asked in a husky voice.

  Angela swallowed and met his gaze. Up close, it felt as if his eyes swallowed her whole. “That was unexpected.”

  “Not for me. I have been obsessed with your mouth all night. Ever since I first laid eyes on you.” His thumb traced her bottom lip and sent a thrill through her.

  Angela dropped her forehead to his shoulder. “Andres…”

  She wasn’t opposed to a one-night stand but hadn’t expected to have such an intense attraction to this man. Excitement thrummed in her veins, and she felt helpless in the face of such unruly emotion…out of control. What was happe
ning to her?

  He cupped her face with both hands and forced her to meet his gaze. A faint smile crossed his lips. “Don’t worry. I will not ravish you on this mountain, no matter how tempting you are. Just allow me one more kiss,” he whispered.

  He kissed her again, harder this time. His mouth bruised hers with its intensity and he groaned when she flicked her tongue against his. When he pulled away, his breaths came in shallow pants.

  “Perhaps we should stop now, before I forget the promise I just made.”

  Angela laughed shakily. “Good idea.”

  4

  Angela and Andres spent another hour talking on the mountain. He sat leaning back on his hands, legs stretched out. She sat angled against him, legs curled to the side. Though the night wasn’t cold, the warmth from his body provided additional comfort.

  He seemed genuinely interested in learning more about her, and he was easy to talk to. She told him about her work as a senior consultant. The work was hard and the hours long, and she often had to travel, but despite the cons of her chosen career path, the greater pro was that she genuinely enjoyed the challenge of the work she did.

  “Have you ever considered doing anything else?” he asked. His voice was a soft rumble in her ear.

  Angela shrugged. “Not really. Consulting is all I’ve ever done, and it’s the kind of fast-paced, demanding work that causes some people to burn out. I’m fortunate that I’ve even lasted this long. I like the high-octane pace.”

  They were quiet for a moment, listening to the night sounds.

  “What kind of investments are you involved in? And don’t give me another vague answer,” Angela said.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He chuckled softly. “On my twenty-fifth birthday, I inherited a large sum of money and started a private equity firm. We have an office in the States. We provide financial backing for startup companies or those that need an infusion of cash for expansion, that kind of thing. I also run the companies that my family owns. We have holdings around the world—mutual funds, real estate, and commodities, to name a few—all of which I manage.”

  “Sounds complicated,” Angela remarked.