Page 30 of Claimed By the Crown Prince
She’d tell him over and over again,‘Never give away your heart, Dax, they don’t want it. They’ll take it out and crush it to pieces in front of you...in front of everyone.’
The silence was broken only by the call of birds, insects, and the waves gently breaking on the shore. It was hot and getting hotter.
Feeling claustrophobic after the onslaught of unwelcome memories, Dax stood up and started to strip off until he was naked. And then he walked into the sea, letting its relative cool wash over him and suck him under, where he could try and drown out the fact that he was stuck here with a woman who was simultaneously bringing back the past in a way that was most unwelcome while driving him insane with lust.
Not a good combination.
Laia emerged onto the beach from the treeline. She saw Dax’s clothes on the sand. No sign of the man. She shaded her eyes and looked out to sea. She still couldn’t see him.
A knot formed in her gut as she scanned the horizon, until finally she saw a speck in the distance. The knot loosened marginally as the speck got larger as he swam back to shore. Had he been trying to escape? Or just swimming...?
She went down to the shoreline, dropping her things as she did. She wore a one-piece swimsuit under a floaty kaftan that came to her thighs.
She could see Dax’s powerful arms now, scissoring rhythmically in and out of the water. Eventually he was close enough to stand. The water lapped around his chest. His messy hair was slicked back and dark. He saw her, and she noticed the tension coming into his body.
‘How did you find me?’
Laia’s gut clenched. She felt as if she was intruding. He hadn’t wanted her to find him. And why would he? She’d incarcerated him here and he’d just found out she had a half-sister who was pretending to be her.
‘You set off the alarms.’
Dax splashed water onto his face, and then said, ‘Well? Are you going to stand there all day or get in?’
Laia felt ridiculously awkward. And self-conscious. She told herself she was being ridiculous. This man had been to yacht parties where women cavorted with little else but a piece of string protecting their modesty.
She looked away and pulled off her kaftan. How on earth was she going to seduce this man if she couldn’t even bare herself in a one-piece swimsuit in front of him?
She threw the kaftan onto the ground, annoyed with herself now, and stepped into the water until it reached her waist. And then she dived under, hoping for a graceful surfacing near Dax, but she swallowed some water and emerged coughing and spluttering.
He was grinning. ‘Okay?’
Laia nodded, regaining her composure, treading water. It was like cool silk against her skin. This was her favourite place to come for a swim.
‘Look,’ she said, ‘I’m sorry for all this, but I truly believe I have no choice but to see this through now to the end.’
‘Sorry enough to let me go?’
Laia was struck by a pang. He wanted to get away from her. Apart from anything else, she hadn’t expected it to be so easy to talk to him. To tell him things.
She shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, no. Not yet.’
Dax didn’t look surprised. He said, ‘I need to check in with my assistant John.’
Laia nodded. ‘I can arrange that.’
‘I’m going to get out now.’
‘Okay...’ Laia wondered why he was telling her this.
And then he said, ‘You might want to turn around.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I’m naked.’
Even though she was in the cool water, heat flooded Laia all the way up to her cheeks. ‘Oh, right...of course.’
She turned to face out to the horizon. She could hear Dax moving through the water back to shore. Unable to help herself, she turned her head just as he was walking out through the shallows.