Page 46 of Mistaken as His Royal Bride

He’d told them to let her in if she came back.

Maddi went into the suite. There were a few lamps throwing out golden light. It was silent. She saw a light coming from the bedroom area and walked over, barefoot.

She stood in the doorway and saw Aristedes’s clothes draped haphazardly over a chair. It was only then that she registered the steam coming from under another door. The bathroom. And then he emerged, looking down as he tied a knot in the towel slung low on his hips.

He was bare-chested, and Maddi’s gaze was glued to that area. The well-defined pectorals. A light smattering of dark hair. The six-pack that looked as if it had been painted in shade and light by Michelangelo. Not an ounce of spare flesh. His skin was still damp. Gleaming.

Then he spoke. ‘Are you really here?’

Maddi looked up. He’d seen her. He was frowning. Hair slicked back. The bones of his face stark and beautiful.

She nodded. ‘I... I think so.’

‘Come here.’

Maddi walked over, the dress pooling around her bare feet, softly swishing against her legs. She stopped about a foot away from Aristedes. He reached out and traced a finger down her cheek. Took a length of hair and let it run through his fingers.

‘You’re real...’ he breathed.

It soothed something inside her that he wasn’t behaving as if he’d just been waiting for her inevitable return. He looked as stunned as she felt to be doing this.

Unable to resist the temptation, she reached out and placed her palm flat against Aristedes’s chest. It was warm and hard. His heart thumped under her hand. Strong. Her little finger grazed a nipple and he sucked in a breath, putting his hand over hers, trapping it.

He reached for her with his other arm, pulling her closer. He looked down. ‘Barefoot?’

She nodded. He smiled. She melted inside. Then he cupped her face in his hands and tilted it up, his gaze roving over her features hungrily for a few seconds before his mouth touched hers. A light kiss at first. A testing...a tasting. But Maddi was hungry. She moved closer and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing their bodies flush together.

She could feel the heat from his body seeping through the thin material of the dress. Her breasts felt heavy.

The kiss changed and became harder. One of Aristedes’s hands caught the back of her head and an arm wrapped around her back, holding her. Which was good, because she wasn’t sure her legs were still working.

The kiss became deeper and more explicit, stoking the fire in Maddi’s blood. Tongues tangled. She bit his lower lip gently, experimentally. It was firm. She soothed it with her tongue and Aristedes growled low in his throat.

He pulled back. Maddi opened her eyes. Everything was blurry. He slowly came back into focus and the look on his face made her gulp. He looked...ravenous. She felt a moment of insecurity—should she tell him she wasn’t exactly experienced? But then she imagined him looking shocked, and then maybe disgusted... Selfishly, she didn’t want to risk it.

Surely he wouldn’t notice?

He moved back slightly and said, ‘Turn around.’

Maddi did, and felt him move her hair so that it fell over one shoulder, baring her back. Instead of going straight for the zip, she felt him trace her shoulder blades and then down the centre of her spine to the top of her dress.

She bit her lip to stop a shiver of pure desire. She was dealing with a maestro here, which was immediately intimidating but also reminded her that he’d had lots of practice. And that reminded her that in comparison she was hardly likely to make an impression, no matter how much he might want her.

Her mind spiralled right up until his fingers found the zip and started to pull it down. Then she stopped breathing.

His hands brought the zip all the way down to just above her buttocks. The dress fell away from her breasts. He tugged it gently over her hips and it dropped in a soft swish of silk and chiffon layers at her feet.

Now she wore only a strapless bra and matching lace panties. Aristedes walked around her and stopped in front of her. She couldn’t look at him. He tipped up her chin with a finger.

‘Breathe, Maddi.’

She sucked in a breath and it went straight to her head. Meanwhile, Aristedes’s gaze was moving down, over her chest to her belly and waist, her hips, thighs, legs... She felt his touch like the lick of a flame, leaving sparks wherever it landed.

He looked back up. ‘You are more than I could have imagined...’

Maddi swallowed. ‘So are you.’

She wanted to touch him again, but she was shy. She curled her hands into fists at her sides.