in reality translated into a bedsit, a kettle and the landlady’s cat. Regardless, the Royal Council insisted that she had the best claim.
It was when they had said ‘Illegitimate, legitimate, it really doesn’t matter what kind of heir you give us’ that she had baulked. Didn’t matter? How could they say that something as important as a child didn’t matter? It would damn well matter to her. But that was a problem for another day.
Today her goals were to get through this lecture with the hunky tutor and—hopefully—get her mind off his body and onto his body of work.
He was still standing there staring at her with a somewhat confused look on his face.
‘Visual images?’ she prompted, glancing at the screen. ‘Don’t want to risk falling asleep.’ She was trying to be friendly and hide the alarming response her body was having to his physical presence alone.
Still nothing.
Mountain Man’s silence was beginning to seriously annoy her. ‘I brought a pile of books along.’ She gestured with her naked foot at the photographic essays on the coffee table. ‘You can use them to illustrate your talk, if you like?’
That was it! She’d had enough.
Standing and turning to face him directly, she was confronted by a glacial stare. ‘Don’t they teach you manners at princess school?’ he asked, finally breaking his silence.
His voice was an uncompromising, husky growl. Had he invaded the palace with the sole intention of insulting her?
‘I beg your pardon?’ she trilled in her haughtiest tone.
‘You heard me, Princess Astrid.’
‘How dare you!’ Charging towards him, she raised her hand as if to slap him. ‘I can always get another tutor.’
Snatching hold of her wrist, the man bowed mockingly over her hand. ‘Prince Karl of Thorberg at your service, Princess Astrid.’
As she raised her other hand to push him away, he dragged her closer.
CHAPTER TWO
‘PRINCE KARL THORBERG as in the Karl Thorberg, world-renowned explorer?’ she asked, disbelief ringing in her words. ‘I didn’t recognise you.’
Karl laughed but didn’t let her go. ‘No surprise there, Princess.’
Indeed. The last time she had seen a photograph of the hunk with wanderlust, the prince had been shaved and polished, if a little just-out-of-bed rumpled in an attractive adventurer’s way, picking up some award or other from the Royal Institute. She had almost fallen asleep during a replay of the ceremony on TV, but had woken up fast when Karl came on the screen.
‘You can let this go now,’ he said, unpicking her fingers from the panic button she was clutching. ‘You won’t need it while I’m around.’
Yes, she would! The way Karl was staring into her eyes said he knew the desires of her wayward body better than she knew them herself. There had never been a better time to wear a panic button. The Royal Council had insisted she wear an alarm, arguing that the numerous pretenders to the throne hadn’t given up hope of removing her as an obstacle on their path to power. She had eventually relented as the moonstone pendant etched with runic swirls that encompassed the button looked cool.
‘What are you doing?’ She clasped a hand to her chest a beat too late.
‘What does it look as if I’m doing, Princess?’ Karl swung the pendant in front of her eyes. ‘Like I said, you won’t be needing this while I’m around.’
His fingers had only touched her for an instant and her senses were in free fall. This wasn’t good. ‘So why you?’ she pressed, trying to shake off the dizzying effect his heavily masculine presence was having on her. ‘Are you serious about being my tutor?’
‘Never more so. You want someone to give you a crash course on your lands beyond the Arctic Circle—’
‘And you’re a world authority,’ she said thoughtfully.
‘I am,’ Karl confirmed, stating this without conceit. ‘I don’t think there’s anyone better qualified.’
And not just for that job, Astrid mused as she took in the full splendour of the man for the second time in as many minutes. ‘Modest, too,’ she commented.
‘Forthright,’ Karl argued.
Some humour or warmth in that steely gaze wouldn’t go amiss. ‘Perhaps we should move on?’ she suggested.
‘I’m all for moving things on.’
Wait. Was that humour in his eyes? Before she could make up her mind, Prince Karl was heading for the door. ‘Where are you going?’ she asked, glancing at the giant cinema screen. ‘I’ve got loads of films on the Arctic territories, so you don’t need to bother getting yours, if you’ve left them in your car.’
Even a frown looked good on him. She loved the way his weather-beaten face crinkled. But that dip of his head as he glowered at her and the firm line of his mouth weren’t very encouraging. She shrugged. ‘What?’
‘Films?’ he queried.
‘Yeah, moving images. You’ve seen them before, I take it?’
‘What the hell are you talking about, Princess? Your people asked me to wait in here and you’d be along directly. They didn’t tell me I’d have to waste my time indulging you as you watch some heavily edited film.’
‘Well? What, then? I warn you, if you’re just going to drone on, I’ll probably fall asleep—’
‘You’re a real charmer, aren’t you?’
‘And you’re very rude. How dare you invade the royal palace and start laying down the law!’
‘I was invited here, if you remember, Princess. By you.’
‘My aide-de-camp issued the invitation for me. I just told him to get the best—’
‘And here I am, fresh from my latest expedition.’
She huffed, inwardly shuddering at the steel in Karl’s voice. She hadn’t anticipated obstacles like Prince Karl Thorberg when she had accepted the throne. And now he was standing in front of her, blocking out the screen in a direct challenge to her authority. Remembering the Royal Council’s words of wisdom about appearing weak, she launched a counter-attack. ‘Well, if I hired you, I can fire you. I choose who I want. And I don’t want you.’
But she needed him. It was becoming clearer in each passing moment that Astrid was in real trouble.
She just didn’t know it yet. When the previous king had died without heirs and his council chose Astrid to be the next ruler, the wolves had closed in. Seeing a pretty young thing, every loser had imagined they were in with a chance—bed her, then wed her. Or, failing that, push her out of their way. Even pretenders from half a world away had come forward, announcing they had a better claim to the throne than she did.
