Ways To Ruin A Royal Reputation (Mills & Boon Modern) (Signed, Sealed…Seduced, Book 1) by Dani Collins (best ebook reader ubuntu .txt) 📗

With absolute gravity, she said, “There is nothing wrong with the way you make love.”

They should be exchanging playful banter, preparing for a lighthearted parting. Instead, he kissed her, hard. He wanted to imprint himself on her.

The wolves were continuing to howl, but he let himself absorb the fullness of the moment. The way her nails dug into his scalp as she pressed him to kiss her more deeply, the way her tongue greeted his own... This was all they had. This moment. This kiss.

That’s all it should have been. But as the fine hair on her mound tantalized his erection and her toes caressed the top of his foot, his heart pounded hard enough to crack his sternum. “Once more?” he asked through his teeth.

She was as powerless to this force as he was and didn’t bother trying to hide it. “Once more,” she breathed.

With a savage smile, he pressed her toward the doors. “Get back in my bed then.”

Amy woke in the early morning, naked and alone in her bed in the guest suite. She stretched and let out a sigh that was both enjoyment of the luxurious thread count and a half moan as her sore muscles twinged. She was glowing with the lingering sensuality of their lovemaking, but beneath it was despondency.

Once had not been enough, even when it turned into an afternoon and evening.

Yesterday was all they would have, though. One golden memory. She worked for Luca. She had an assignment to complete, one she had neglected because they’d been so wrapped up in each other. She’d stolen from his room near midnight like Cinderella, shoes in hand, jacket held in front of her to hide her broken fly. A footman had escorted her, but she trusted he wouldn’t say a word.

She was starving and desperate for coffee, so she rose to find the French press in the kitchen. There was cheese, fresh berries and yogurt in the refrigerator, too. Perfect.

She set them out and started the kettle, then went in search of her phone. It was still in her jacket pocket from last night, still set on Do Not Disturb from when she’d joined Luca for lunch. They’d skipped dinner, which was why she was ready to gnaw her own arm.

Still yawning, she touched her thumb to unlock her phone and it flashed to life with notifications. She had several alerts set for her own name since she was often attached to press releases for clients, but this wasn’t a press release.

It was about her client. And her.

The photos showed her and Luca with the sunset behind them, and each headline slanted them into a different, damning light.

Like Father, Like Son! one headline blared.

The king of Vallia continues a tradition of depravity by seducing his new hire, socialite Amy Miller of London Connection, who caused a stir in the late queen’s foundation with her publicity campaign for an upcoming gala...

Victim or Villain? the next asked while the photo’s angle revealed her seductive profile and Luca’s riveted expression.

The Golden Prince is dragged into the gutter by a gold digger...

Crown Jewels on Display! screamed the most tawdry headline.

They’d blurred the photo, but she knew he’d been naked and fully aroused.

“Oh, Luca,” she whispered.

How had something so perfect and unsullied become...this?

As her unblinking eyes grew hot, Amy sank onto the sofa, crushed by the magnitude of this development. Her stomach churned while her brain exploded with the infinite agonies that were about to befall her—the sticks and stones and betrayals and blame.

Her life would disintegrate. Again.

And, just like last time, she had no one to blame but herself.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“PHOTOS WERE PUBLISHED overnight, signor. They are...unfortunate.”

“Of who?” It was a testament to how thoroughly Amy had numbed his brain that he didn’t compute immediately that it was, of course, about the two of them.

Guillermo thrust a tablet under his nose.

Luca’s head nearly exploded. The foulest language he’d ever uttered came out of his throat. “Where the hell was security?”

“They went up to the castle as soon as they realized they had a stray hiker, but he had already departed.”

The guards wouldn’t have sensed any urgency. Despite the regulations against visiting the ruins without a guide, the odd tourist still made their way up there, usually photographing the silhouette of the palace against the sunset. Since the lighting was so poor at that time of day, and all the private rooms faced the sea, the chance of compromising a royal family member was low. The paparazzi who’d made the trek had never struck pay dirt because even Luca’s father hadn’t been stupid enough to stand naked on the one visible corner of the terrace.

“We presume it was taken by an amateur,” Guillermo continued stiffly. “Given the photo’s quality and the fact it was initially posted to a private account. The images have since been reposted by the tabloids with... As you can see.”

Unspeakable headlines.

Golden Prince: Feet of Clay, Rod of Steel?

At least they’d blurred his erection, but they’d set his image beside a grainy one of his father in a miniscule swimsuit.

King of Vallia Inherits the Horny Crown

When he saw Another Molesting Monarch, he thought he might throw up.

“The PR team is discussing damage control. I’ve made arrangements for Ms. Miller to return to London.”

Luca barely heard him. For his entire life, he had kept to the straight and narrow and the one time he had stepped out of line, he was caught and being compared to his father in the most abhorrent way—

Wait. His heart clunked its gears, shifting from reflexive shame and fury to a glimmer of possibility. This was bad. But was it bad enough?

This wasn’t the scandal he’d wanted. Amy was being derided as badly as he was, but his heart lurched into a gallop as he suddenly spotted the finish line after a marathon that had gone on for two decades.

“She’ll be mobbed in London,” Luca said, his mind racing. “She doesn’t go anywhere until I’ve spoken to her.