Page 15 of Claiming His Virgin Princess

Ilsa frowned. What was the point of asking when she couldn’t go with him?

‘Ilsa?’

‘Turkey. I’ve never been to Turkey and it sounds wonderful.’

‘Then meet me in Istanbul at the end of the week.’

‘I...’ She swallowed hard, excitement and something that felt like too much emotion clogging her throat. Noah made it sound so easy, so right that they should be together. Nothing in her life had felt easy or right for a long time.

His eyes held hers so intently she felt like she was falling into an endless warm ocean. ‘Don’t say no, Ilsa. Say yes, or at least that you’ll think about it.’

The whole idea was outrageous. Sonother.

The press would find out and then there’d be a scandal. But she couldn’t seem to care.

‘That sounds wonderful.’

CHAPTER FOUR

NEXTMORNINGILSAslept later than she had in years. She woke to familiar pain low in her body but also to a luxurious feeling of having rested well.

And fizzing anticipation.

Or was it disbelief at what she’d agreed to last night?

She lay pondering her decision to embark on an affair with Noah Carson. She’d be breaking with her past and burning her bridges. News of it would undoubtedly reach her family and the press. Given her savagely ticking biological clock and fertility problem she should be looking for a man who wanted to settle down, not a holiday fling.

Yet instead of second thoughts Ilsa felt elation. Every instinct told her she had made the right decision.

That feeling intensified when she turned on her phone and discovered a message from Noah inviting her to breakfast, brunch or lunch, depending on when she woke. Ilsa grinned as she texted back.

Excitement thrilled down her spine. Instead of a morning curled up with a book and a heat pack, she’d see Noah.

The man who would be her first lover.

‘You look scrumptious,’ Noah bent his head and murmured near her ear as he ushered her across the sumptuous lobby and out into the sunshine.

Ilsa’s pulse fluttered wildly and she tried to contain her delight. ‘You look pretty good yourself.’

That was a huge understatement. In casual jeans and a pale green shirt Noah looked rangy, sexy and utterly masculine. Her heart somersaulted at the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled at her.

‘How do you feel today?’ he murmured.

‘Fantastic!’

That made him grin, a flash of white in his tanned face and a look in his eyes that made her knees tremble. If she didn’t feel so excited she’d worry about his impact on her, but today that didn’t seem to matter.

‘Me too. How’s the pain?’

She shrugged. ‘Bearable.’ She’d taken painkillers and she didn’t want to talk about such mundanities. ‘I thought you were sailing today.’

That surely explained her excitement at receiving his message.

Noah took her hand and turned down the street away from the hotel. Once more Ilsa felt that sense of utter rightness she’d experienced last night. Then he stopped, turning to face her, expression serious and eyes intense. ‘I needed to make sure you hadn’t changed your mind.’ His fingers threaded through hers. ‘Are you coming to Istanbul, Ilsa?’

She loved the way he said her name in a velvety rumble that made her twitch with pleasure. More, she loved feeling that he too shared the heady excitement of this moment. That it was profound in some way.

Ilsa stood taller. She’d had time for doubts, but none had outweighed her need for what Noah offered. Escape. Adventure. Sexual pleasure. The chance simply to be herself, not burdened by public perception or royal rules.

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