but could not stop herself waiting for it.
Slowly, silently, Lysander reached out to her. She was unresisting, so he drew her into his arms for a kiss that made her forget everything—until she remembered that she was in the grip of a serial womaniser. With a heart-rending effort she forced herself out of his grasp.
‘Lysander! You promised you were going to take me to my door and no further!’
He pointed towards the floor. Without knowing what she was doing, Alyssa had stepped over the threshold. She was now out in the hall again.
Lysander was already coolly backing away from her. ‘I was as good as my word. That is exactly what I did. No more—but no less, either.’
With that, he blew her a kiss, turned and sauntered off.
Alyssa was rooted to the spot. She watched him go, her fingertips resting on her lips as she tried to recapture the pressure of his mouth against hers. When he reached the top of the stairs, he stopped and glanced back. His smile told her everything she didn’t want to know. It took her right back to those few delicious seconds she had spent in his arms. She responded with a sudden rush of sensual warmth. Her body would have done anything to experience his strength surrounding her again.
But her heart was too afraid …
EARLY next morning, Lysander appeared in the nursery doorway. His unexpected arrival threw Alyssa into a panic, but she was careful not to show it. She was briefing her members of staff when she saw him, and didn’t want to betray her feelings in front of them. Luckily, this wasn’t a social call. He stayed brisk and businesslike as he informed them he was arranging for the royal household to fly back to Rosara in a few days’ time.
‘Once we get there, instead of Ra’id taking tea in my suite I thought we could take him out for a picnic every afternoon, Alyssa,’ he told her.
She nodded, glad he was keeping things light and impersonal. ‘If the weather’s good, it’ll be a great idea.’
‘Don’t worry about the weather, it’s the company that matters,’ he said teasingly, then walked off, with nothing more than a wink for the other girls.
Alyssa went back to her work in a haze of regret. She might have had more sense than to be seduced by Lysander last night, but it was a near thing. His touch had ignited a slow burning fire inside her that couldn’t be extinguished. She knew she should have kept right out of his grasp. All she could do now was try and feel glad that at least she’d found the strength from somewhere to push him away. If she had given in to the temptation, let him go all the way and seduce her, how much worse would she be feeling this morning? She would be tortured by regret as well as feelings of loss. As it was, she felt as though a sticking plaster had been wrenched off her heart—the heart that her ex-fiancée had broken and Lysander now endangered once again, just as she was trying to heal. She was so afraid the edges of her mental wounds were coming apart again, too. If that happened, there would be nothing to hold back the flood of her bad memories. And then all those mistakes would return to haunt her.
Over the next few days, Alyssa barely saw Lysander. He was too busy arranging their transfer to Rosara to spend more than a few minutes with Ra’id each day, over tea. At those times Alyssa kept out of the way, using the excuse that she wanted them to get to know each other without any distractions. That didn’t stop her keeping a discreet eye on Lysander from the next room. She told herself she was only being professional, but that wasn’t true. The way he smiled each time she opened the door to him made her blush so furiously she could barely meet his gaze.
The rest of the time, all she got was a glimpse of him in passing now and again as she and Ra’id settled into their new routine, or she heard the sound of his clear, calm voice ringing through the house. Those tantalising hints of what might have been made him all the more desirable. All Alyssa could do was go on telling herself she had been right to push him away, and try to keep her mind off him. It was almost impossible, but packing all Ra’id’s things ready for the journey to Rosara gave her hardly any time to brood. She already adored the little boy. Getting him to tell her all about his home far away strengthened their bond and cheered him up, too. While he painted pictures of his ponies and spun stories about life in Rosara’s Rose Palace, Alyssa told herself life couldn’t possibly get any better.
If only she could stop thinking about Lysander. And if only international travel didn’t involve flying …
On the night before they were due to leave for Rosara, Alyssa sat up late. She pretended she was collecting things to keep Ra’id occupied during the flight, but the idea of sitting in a tin can hurtling through the air thousands of feet above the ground had a lot to do with her sleeplessness. Only in the early hours of the morning did she finally give in and go to bed. She had barely closed her eyes when the alarm buzzed in her ears.
Ra’id was so excited about going back home he was a real handful, but Alyssa was determined he should behave. They ate a quiet breakfast together in the nursery wing, though she barely had an appetite. Then she marched him downstairs to the entrance hall. Lysander was already there, supervising the transfer and as smartly dressed as ever.
The moment he spotted her, he strolled over to meet them at the bottom of the stairs. Ra’id was delighted, but Lysander was more interested in Alyssa.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘Nothing, Lysander.’
‘I hope you are being a good boy?’ he warned his nephew.
The little boy blinked up at them both innocently.
‘He’s fine,’ Alyssa said quickly. ‘We’re getting used to each other, gradually.’
‘But there’s definitely something different about you.’ Lysander’s hand went out to her, but he brought it sharply back to his side before it went anywhere. ‘If you’re still worried about what happened on your first night here—’ he murmured.
If they had been alone, Alyssa knew he would have reached out to her, which could so easily have turned into something more. The urgent need to feel his touch again filled her until she couldn’t speak. All she could do was shake her head.
That wasn’t enough for Lysander. ‘So what is your problem?’
‘What problem?’
He gave up. ‘OK. I’m taking the lead car for the drive to the airport while you and Ra’id follow in the one behind, so I’ll speak to you again once we’re on the plane.’ Lysander rapped out the words like a warning.
Alyssa felt herself going green. Luckily, Lysander didn’t notice. He was distracted by a furious wail from Ra’id.
‘No! I want to go with you, Uncle Ly!’
Alyssa frowned. ‘You can at least ask properly, Ra’id. Now, we’ve been working on this. What should you have said?’
The little boy gazed at her for a few seconds, and then remembered.
‘Please, Alyssa, may I go in Uncle Ly’s car?’
She smiled gravely. ‘Well done, Ra’id, although it all depends
