BOUND BY DUTY CLAIMED BY DESIRE

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER NINE

Claimed by Desire

She felt as if she was falling into a deep bottomless pit. All she had to cling to was Ben. And it was imperative she did ,to keep hold of him , never ever to loosen her hold on him.

Her eyes went to the man standing beside her in the stone built church,his expression drawn and shattered.

Trust me,he had said.

Could she really trust him? Was he really rescuing her or simply tricking her again?

But how could he be tricking her? He was prepared to do something that would change his life for ever, something so drastic.

He had disobeyed his father, knocked his own brother down,so that he could rescue her. So that he could get Ben and her away to safety.

The priest was staring to speak. There had been a low voiced, urgent conversation in the car between the prince and his bodyguard.

A frail elderly man, he stood before them now,clapsing their hands together with his and intoning words she did not understand, but which she knew, were binding her in holy matrimony to the man at her side.

It was done. Ben and his mother were safe.

As he thanked the priest, mentally vowing that he would take every measure to avoid the man getting into the slightest trouble over what he had done, and thanked the housekeeper who had witnessed the ceremony along with Giovanni, Rafael knew that there was one more thing to be done.

He ushered Ben and his mother back into the car.Giovanni slide into the driver's seat. He knew where to go , and what to do.

‘I’m hungry’, announced Ben .He had woken up,stood beside Giovanni during the brief,hurried ceremony, passively accepting without compression, what was happening to grown-ups around him.

‘we’ll have some food very soon,I promise’, Rafael said ruffling his hair.

‘You like pizza?’ he asked, and passed back a large, double wrapped plastic bag.

Ben's face light up.

‘Yes , please’, he said.

As they are,he slid his hand into his pocket and took out his phone. It took a while to be answered, but when it was ,he wasted no time.

‘Rajiv , I've got a story for you.’

‘That was a friend of mine.The one who alerted me that there was a story building about my brother's long lost son.

I've told him we just got married.That we are making a family for Ben ,He will sit on that story until I give him the word to publish it.

That's the only choice my father gets.

His voice was grim as he finished.

He slid his phone into his pocket again.

‘Where are we?’ Elena voice sounded bleary , even to her own ears. She straightened up , feeling stiff. Ben was still slouched heavily against her,fast asleep.

‘Capo d’ Angeli . Rajiv has hired a villa for us ,we can stay here as long as we want. No one will disturb us.

She let him undo the safety catch and she scooped the sleeping Ben into her arms, while Giovanni helped her out of the car.

A cool breeze came in the night,and all she could make out was a house with a gravelled drive immediately beneath her feet, and a front door opening.

She heard Italian spoken, and then she and Ben were being ushered inside.

Like a Zombie,she followed him into a room ,a large bedroom with a big bed.

She wanted to sleep and never wake up. Never face what she had just done.

Married Prince Raphael Of Valderra' .

Downstairs, Rafael took out his mobile phone once more, and pressed the number he knew he had to call.

Lucian answered immediately. His voice was taut with fury.

Rafael cut him off in mid- denunciation. He called his brother a word he had never used on him before.

It silenced Lucian long enough for Rafael to tell him the situation.

Then slowly,in a different voice,his older brother spoke again.

‘Rafeal , it's not too late. We'll send a helicopter, you and the boy can come back here by morning. We'll fix an instant annulment.

The girl can be taken care of,we can get her deported.

‘Wrong again ‘, Rafael said,All you and your father can do is to give instructions that are crude and impossible.

‘And now, you can inform your father that I'm going to start my honeymoon, with my wife and new son. And there's nothing you can do about it.

Do you understand me? They're in my care now, And if you have a shred of honour in you, you would never speak about her again.

He hung up.

Elena woke up.

Guilt drenched through her.

She had taken something that was not hers to take.

Something she'd no right to,she turned her head. Ben was asleep on the far side of the huge double bed, his little figure swathed in the bed cover.

Ben ,her sister's son ,Not her's at all.

She felt Ben stir and wake up.

‘Mummy’?

Ben was sitting up.

‘Is it getting up time?’ he asked brightly.

Is Tio Rafael here?’

He looked around expectantly,then in a puzzled voice, ‘ Where are we ,mummy? Have we gone back to the palace again?

She shook her head

‘No darling. We're not going back there again. ‘ Come on, let's find out where our breakfast is . I'm starving.

Elena drew up the Venetian blinds. French windows were behind them, and a wide terrace.

‘Mymny ,the sea ! It's bluer than my paintbox.

‘Do you think there's a beach here ? He asked,his voice pitched with excitement.

‘Definitely , there's a beach here.

The voice that answered him was not hers,it came from the far end of the terrace, where an iron work table was set out under a large blue- striped parasol.

The table was set with breakfast things, but Elena had no eyes for them. Who she has eyes for was the man sitting in the pool shade.

She felt her stomach clench. Oh,God ,he looks so fantastic.

He was wearing a bathrope , and it's whiteness contrasted dramatically with the warm tan of his skin tones, revealing a smooth,hard surface that she flicked her eyes away from jerkily.

His forearms were bare too, the sleeves of the robe rolled up, and his damp hair was feathering in the warmth. As for his face,.

She felt her stomach clench again, he was an attractive male, and up to now she'd only seen him in a formal attire.

Seeing him like this, fresh from his shower,was..

Different, utterly different.

He seemed relaxed and carefree.

Ben was running forward. ‘Tio Rafael, can we go down to the beach? He asked eagerly.

His uncle laughed. Elena's stomach churned yet again. The laughter brightened his face the more. Making him look a hundred times sexier.

Oh God , how am I going to cope with this?

Misery filled her , and with horrible self-conscious awkwardness,she walked forward. As she approached,he got to his feet.

‘Buon giorno’,he said .There was still a smile in his eyes.

Elena swallowed, and a half nod.she couldn't look at him,not him in the eyes and know that last night, she has become this man's wife.

She pulled out a chair and sat down.

‘Did you sleep well?’ There seemed to be a genuine inquiry in his voice.

She swallowed and nodded again. Jerkily,she reached for a jug of juice and Began to pour herself a glass.

Ben was chattering away to his uncle.

His stepfather,A stepfather who could take him away from her.