Page 35 of Raul
Which brought her even closer to the tempting scruff and the strong chin beneath it. And the thick waves of his blond-streaked hair that made her fingers itch to comb through it. He smelled so damn good too. Clean, potent male with an overlay of something expensively exotic like sandalwood. She took a deep breath to calm herself, but it only intensified the scent stroking erotic places in her body.
He was pointing to a name and talking, but her brain wasn’t absorbing the words.
“Sorry, could you start over?” She forced herself to focus. “I got ahead of you reading the names.” Which were a who’s who of the rich and/or royal.
“Bien. I started with the people coming in by water…which aren’t that many, considering the size of the guest list. I narrowed that down based on what I know about the guests personally. These are the assholes I can imagine paying someone to steal a dragon to prove how rich and powerful they are, even though the dragon will probably die.”
He actually knew all these insanely wealthy people whose names she only recognized from the media. Of course, she had met several celebrity musicians while piloting Gabriel’s jet, but the people on Raul’s list were a whole different level of money. And he knew them personally, proving yet again that she had no business wanting to touch him.
“Even worse,” he continued, his voice raw with anger, “they might want to turn the dragon’s skin into a belt or a handbag to show off to their asshole friends.”
“Okay, so how does that help us?” None of the guests had arrived yet, and she couldn’t figure out how Raul could ransack giant private yachts.
“We put surveillance on their ships. The docks have plenty of security cameras to deter smuggling. If anything suspicious gets carried on board, we’ll know which yacht to search.”
Weagain. When had she and the Crown Prince of Caleva become a crime-fighting duo?
Common sense kicked in.
“It’s a great idea, but I think we should let someone else do the hands-on stuff,” she said. “We’ve both been out of basic training for a while. My stealth skills are rusty. And, well, you’re theprince.”
She hated it when the exhilaration in his voice flattened. “Ay,you’re right. I was just thinking that I could get on board a yacht without raising suspicions since I am, as you point out, the prince.” His tone was sardonic.
Without thinking, she laid her hand on his, savoring the warmth of his smooth skin. “We’ll figure it out when the time comes. It’s better to stay flexible until we know what we’re dealing with.” Especially since the dragon and her eggs could be anywhere by now.
He laid his other hand over hers, and she nearly gasped. His palm was so warm, and his long, elegant fingers felt so strong as he gave hers a brief squeeze. “Gracias. Isn’t that a quote fromSargentoDuro in basic?”
She waited for Raul to release her hand, but he didn’t. “Y-yes,” she stammered, wondering how rude it would be to pull out of his grasp before she did something she would regret. “You had him for basic too?”
“He made my life miserable, and it was the right thing to do.” Raul feathered his fingers over her knuckles without seeming to be aware of it. A delicious tingling radiated up her arm and tightened her nipples to points.
Joder.
He turned to look at her, his face so close that she could see the striations of light and dark blue in his irises. “My father is coming to have lunch with me, so we’re about to be interrupted. I don’t want him to know about this investigation of ours. Will you come back tonight for dinner to finish our planning?”
Could he feel how her pulse accelerated? God, she hoped not.
“What time should I be here?” She would have to cancel drinks and dinner with her friends at their favorite dive bar in Ciudad Militar, but they wouldn’t be offended when she explained why.
“Eight o’clock.” He grinned and lifted his hand off hers as though it was no big deal that he’d been touching her. “If you want to avoid Pater, you should leave now.”
She choked on a laugh at his accurate assumption. “Gracias.I mean, your father is incredible, but he’s a little intimidating.”
“Don’t I know it.” Raul’s tone was wry.
She stood. “Will we eat dinner here in your apartment?”
He nodded. “You can wear jeans if you want.”
Funny and a little weird that he knew his guests needed that information. His life was bounded by protocol. No wonder he had asked her not to treat him like a prince on their camping trip.
“Muy bien. Adios!”She glanced down at his face and had an overwhelming desire to kiss the sculpted lips that were curved in a half smile.
That got her moving toward the door.
“Hasta luego!”Raul called as she reached for the doorknob. “Until this evening.”
A thrill ran through her at the thought of more time spent in his company. However, the reason for it made her queasy. Stealing one of the highly protected dragons and her eggs was a high-stakes crime, both for the thief and for the recipient, because the punishment would be harsh. So there had to be a lot of money changing hands in this situation, which made it even more dangerous.
