Princess in the Iron Mask Read Free Page B

impeccable.’
    ‘You seem to be an intelligent woman. Did you honestly think you could ignore your family for ever?’ Could she not have mustered the decency to return one note from over half a dozen letters?
    ‘Hoped would be more like it.’ She swivelled on her heels to face him. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Garcia, but your journey has been wasted. I’ve no intention of leaving here, with you or anyone.’
    Crossing her arms tightly over her chest, she stood mutinous. His eyes dipped of their own accord, his pulse hitting one-fifty at the sight. Her pose had tightened the shapeless lab coat, offering him a hint of her rounded hip, cinching her small waist and enhancing the lush fullness of her breasts.
    Blood hot as Arunthian lava seared through his veins.
    ‘I’m afraid you have no choice,’ he bit out, furious at his inappropriate physical reaction. ‘Responsibility and duty outweigh personal desires.’
    Claudia’s luscious mouth dropped open and a fleeting image of those full lips pressing into his chest gave him momentary pause. His imagination flamed and he could practically feel her softness sliding against his strength. The heaviness of her breasts as he cupped the soft globes.
    Primal lust hit with devastating impact. Sweat trickled down his spine. Torrid heat surged south. His groin pulsed once, twice, and hardened within seconds. Holy...
    Lucas flexed his neck until he heard a soft click. What the hell was wrong with him ? Nothing that an hour with a woman wouldn’t fix. Any woman bar this one. Preferably a blonde. With blue eyes.
    Dios, when was the last time he’d engaged in no-strings self-indulgence? Months? Years? No wonder he was in such a damn state. Working night and day had obviously begun to take its toll.
    Claudia’s sudden laughter crashed into his train of thought. A dark, hollow sound designed to chill the air.
    ‘How wonderfully droll. I live in a free country, Mr Garcia, what are you going to do? Carry me out of here?’ Laughter died on her tongue as her hand snaked up her chest to curl around her delicate throat.
    The temptation to replace her hand with his made his palms itch. To caress or throttle—he’d yet to decide.
    The air crackled with sweltry tension and Lucas raised one dark brow...
    Claudia took a tentative step back. ‘You wouldn’t dare.’
    No, he wouldn’t, but she didn’t know that. Dios, he was no animal. Although he’d witnessed many in his lifetime.
    Suddenly his thoughts locked as his brain malfunctioned and an image flashed in his mind’s eye. Nostrils flaring, he hauled air into his lungs and shut down the defect.
    He searched for a retort. ‘I would far rather you walked.’
    She shook her head slowly. ‘Not going to happen. Listen, just tell them I’ll think about it, okay?’
    Lucas smiled, although he imagined it was more of a smirk. What she asked of him was not only unthinkable but impossible. He was not going home empty-handed.
    ‘I have to finish my work, Mr Garcia.’
    Ah. He’d wondered how long it would take before she dropped the topic of her profession into the equation. The obvious chink in her armour.
    ‘It’s very important,’ she said.
    So was the country she belonged to. Lucas glanced around her workspace, troubled by the stark environment. After spending ten minutes under the harsh flood of lighting he already felt like a lab rat.
    Control began to slip once more and he closed his eyes, breathed deeply...only to inhale a strange blend of clinical sanitation and elements of her work. Bleached cleanliness punched his gut, gripped and twisted with a hard fist. Sweat bubbled on his upper lip and he turned to pace, exorcising the demons. How could she stand being cooped in this cage? The violent need to escape pumped pure adrenaline through his system, and he clamped his jaw hard enough to crack a molar.
    Shrugging off the discomfort, disgusted at his own weakness, he veered towards her. ‘You may live in a free country but you were born