Page 40 of Claimed By the Crown Prince

She’s doing this on purpose.

Dax tried to exert some control over his body. His head.

But then she stood up straight, faced him directly, and said, ‘I don’t want to run because I want you.’

Dax’s attempts to exert control dissolved in a flood of heat. He gritted his jaw. ‘I can’t deny that I want you too, Laia, but it’s not happening. That kiss was a mistake.’

‘It didn’t feel like a mistake.’

Dax moved back into the kitchen, put his glass down on the counter.

Laia followed him and put her cup down.

No, it hadn’t felt like a mistake...it had felt sweet and sinful all at once.

‘You are marrying my brother.’

Laia waved a hand. ‘Look around you. We’re thousands of miles from Santanger. Does it look like I’m marrying your brother?’

Dax clenched his jaw again. Against the temptation she posed. He had to admit that up until the kiss he’d held out some thread of hope or futile belief that she would somehow come to her senses and return to Europe.

He shook his head, as if that would rearrange his brain cells into forgetting he wanted this woman. ‘I came here to track you down for my brother. I won’t betray him.’

He could see that she looked frustrated. She said tautly, ‘Your brother and I have no relationship to betray.’

Laia’s hair had started to come undone and was falling in tendrils around her face. Her eyes were so green they reminded him of the sea around the island. Her jaw was tight. He could feel the tension in her body, as if connected to her by an invisible thread.

So far, all his little acts of rebellion had never impacted Ari. Dax had made sure of that. He’d always stayed within the bounds of acceptability.

Laia was not the rock he would perish on. She was just a woman he wanted. She was not unique.

So why does it feel like you’ve never wanted another woman? How is that you can’t even picture your last lover?

Like earlier, Dax knew he needed to put distance between them.Now.

He said, ‘I’m not having this conversation. There’s nothing to discuss.’

He turned and went towards the stairs leading up to his suite, where he intended on taking a very cold shower for a very long time. Maybe he could freeze this desire out of his body. In spite of the tropical temperatures.

He had his foot on the bottom step when Laia said from behind him, ‘It’s your fault, you know. It’s your fault I can’t marry your brother.’

CHAPTER SEVEN

LAIA’SHEARTWASthumping so hard she felt light-headed. Dax had gone very still. Slowly, he turned around. His expression was suspiciously blank.

He came back towards her. He stopped a couple of feet away. Laia could feel the tension like electricity crackling between them.

He gritted out one word. ‘Explain.’

Laia swallowed. Dax suddenly seemed a foot taller. Broader. Darker. She hadn’t fully thought through what his reaction might be. Explosive, she was guessing.

‘Laia?’

How did she even articulate this? It suddenly seemed ridiculous that he could have had such a huge impact on her since—

‘You do not get to make a claim like that and then say nothing.’

Dax had folded his arms, which only drew attention to his muscles, pushing against the thin material of his shirt.