his neck, leaning into the long, lean length of his body, and a low moan rumbled in his throat. He broke the kiss and gazed down at her, eyes glazed and half-closed. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?”
She knew exactly what she was doing. “You like it?”
He took her hand and placed it palm down on his chest, so she could feel the heavy thump-thump of his heart. “What do you think?”
She slipped her hand inside the collar of his shirt and touched his bare skin. “Then maybe we should do it some more.”
He reached for her, but she pushed him backward onto the blanket instead, moving the food containers aside so she could scoot closer.
He reached up with one hand to brush her hair back from her face and tuck it behind her ear. “I thought I was supposed to be seducing you.”
She leaned down, brushed her lips against his, whispered against them, “That’s not my style.”
His arms went around her and he pulled her down for a deep, searching kiss. He tasted sweet and salty and even more delicious than the food. She fed off his mouth, feeling as though she could eat him up. His hands were on her face and in her hair, stroking her shoulders and her back. She may have been the one seducing him, but he was definitely in on the action. When he rolled her over onto the blanket she didn’t try to stop him. She opened her eyes to find him propped up on one elbow, grinning down at her.
“I’m supposed to be seducing you,” she reminded him. “That’s harder to do from down here.”
“Sorry, love. That’s not my style, either.”
**********
Well, someone was going to have to relinquish control. “I think this could be a problem.”
He shrugged. “So don’t think.”
She was poised for another snappy comeback, but before she could get the words out he was kissing her again, and she completely forget what she’d been about to say. In fact, she forgot everything but the feel of his mouth on hers, and his hands on her body. She wished they were in the castle, in her bedroom, where their clothes wouldn’t have to be in the way.
He kissed her chin, down her throat and she let her head fall back against the blanket. He kissed lower still, across her collarbone, over the swell of her cleavage, whispering sweet words, telling her she was beautiful.
They may have only been words, but he wielded them skillfully and they cut through her defenses like the lethally sharp blade of a gilded sword.
Through a haze of desire, she gradually became aware of a presence beside them. She felt something warm and damp and foul-smelling against her cheek.
Dog breath, she realized.
She opened her eyes to find a small, canine face not an inch from her own. One of those cute little yappy dogs that people like Paris Hilton carted around with them, with bulging eyes and long, ginger-colored hair tied up with a blue ribbon.
“Well, hello there,” she said, and he or she let out an excited yap, which had Chris looking up from Melissa’s cleavage.
He cursed under his breath and said, “Get lost, Muffin.”
Such an adorable name coming from a big tough prince like him made her laugh. “You named your dog Muffin?”
“It’s not my dog.” He sat up and shooed the furry invader away, which only made it jump around and yap excitedly. “He’s Louisa’s bag of fleas.”
“He’s so cute!” She sat up beside Chris and held out a hand for Muffin to sniff. He sniffed daintily, then lapped at her fingers with his tiny pink tongue. “Aren’t you just a sweetheart?”
From a distance, behind the tree somewhere Melissa heard Louisa call out, “Muffin! Here, boy!”
Muffin’s ears perked and he let out a short yap, as if to say “Here I am!”
“Shoo,” Chris said. “Go get her.”
Muffin didn’t budge.
“Over here!” Melissa called to Louisa, and Chris cursed again, but at this point an interruption seemed inevitable. She just hoped her hair wasn’t too much of a mess, or her makeup smeared. Though she was sure Chris has kissed away whatever had been left of her lip gloss.
Louisa rounded the tree, looking young and fresh in white capri pants and a pink blouse. Her hair looked soft and cute pulled back in a low bun. She was graceful and petite, almost to the point of looking fragile.
When she saw the three of them there—Chris, Melissa and Muffin—she smiled. Then she pointed a finger at her dog and said sternly, “Bad boy, Muffin. You know you’re not supposed to run off like that.”
“He’s so cute,” Melissa told her.
“I hope he’s not bothering you.”
Melissa said “no,” and Chris said “yes” simultaneously. Melissa gave his shoulder a light shove and told Louisa, “He’s not bothering us at all. Is he a shih tzu?”
“Purebred.” Louisa said proudly, scooping him up and tucking him into the crook of her arm. “He probably smelled the food. He’s a little eating machine. I swear, he’s part pig.”
“Would you like to join us?” Melissa asked, in part to be polite, but also because they had hardly eaten a thing and she hated to see all of that food go to waste.
Louisa opened her mouth to answer but Chris interrupted her. “Actually, we were just getting ready to pack up. Melissa was just saying how tired she is from her trip yesterday, and that she’d like to take a nap. I was going to walk her back to her room.”
Oh, yes, that fifteen-minute plane ride from Morgan Isle was absolutely exhausting. Although she was pretty sure that napping was the last thing he had on his mind.
“The nap can wait,” she said.
“No,” Chris insisted, spearing her with a sharp look. “I don’t think it can. We wouldn’t want you to get too tired.”
“That’s okay,” Louisa said. “Muffin and I are going to take a walk.” She smiled brightly and told Melissa, “Have a good rest.”
Either she hadn’t recognized the innuendo in the nap scenario, or she was just polite enough not to let on. Either way, she waved good-bye and walked off with Muffin trailing obediently while Melissa and Chris gathered the leftover food and packed it back into the basket.
“A nap, huh?” she said.
He grinned. “Yeah. You look exhausted.”
“She’s very sweet, isn’t she?” Melissa asked. “Louisa, I mean.”
“Yes.” His brow tucked into a frown. “Far too sweet for her own good.”
“I get the impression she’s a bit…naive.”
“More
