Seducing Her Prince: Rich and Royal, #1

By Jen Katemi

One last assignment before she disappears for good… But bringing down a playboy prince could bring her to her knees.

 

Getting the dirt on a billionaire prince should be child's play. But soul-piercing eyes and a wicked mouth were never part of the plan. His hungry touch sets my body aflame and his tender words thaw my frozen heart. We're both hooked—and I can't let go.

But I don't believe in fairy tales or happy endings. When truth of my treachery is revealed, he'll discard me like trash. Like everyone else I've let slip through my defenses. Only this time, I'm not sure my fractured heart will survive.

Can Eleni hold on to a love she never dreamed she deserved? Can Kasper ever forgive her betrayal?

Discover a world of secrets, seduction and sizzling romance in the Rich & Royal series by USA Today bestselling author, Jen Katemi.

These steamy contemporary romances featuring billionaire royals and their rocky road to love are connected yet designed as stand-alone stories and the series can be read in any order.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Flourish Books
• Release date: Oct 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386504115

Book preview

SEDUCING HER PRINCE

Book 1 in the

Rich and Royal Series

by

USA Today Bestselling Author

Jen Katemi

Seducing Her Prince © Copyright 2018 Jen Katemi

All rights reserved

Published by Flourish Books

Edited by Deadra Krieger

Cover design by Charmaine Ross

This book is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places and events portrayed in this work are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form whatsoever in any country whatsoever without the express written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Protect and Obey – Chapter One

About the Author

Chapter One

Eleni

Ripples. Cast one stone, and it seems like the ripples fan out for miles in every direction. Even after you’ve turned and walked away from the water’s edge. Even after you’ve gotten in your car and driven halfway across the country to escape the consequences. The ripples continue to spread from that one, tiny little stone.

That’s my life. Casting stones, and then speeding away as the ripples reach ever outward in a series of never-ending—usually destructive—circles.

I don’t want to cast any more stones. I’ve had enough. This latest job will be my last. I’d already decided that before receiving the briefing notes last night, and now...even more so. There’s something about this one that doesn’t feel right. I can’t put my finger on it, but something is off. As soon as this assignment is over, I’ll be gone. I know how to disappear. Mama and I did it often enough when I was young, and I’m a lot more knowledgeable about the ways of the world now than when I was eleven.

My mind instantly veers away from dangerous memories, and I try to concentrate once again on the text message containing final instructions about when, where, and who. It’s okay. I can do this. Focus on the job.

Crown Prince Kasper Devon Leoni III. A mouthful of a name, that’s for sure. I’ve heard of the kingdom of Leonioro but have no idea where it is. Somewhere in the Mediterranean region perhaps, judging by the Italian-sounding name and place. What the hell is a playboy European prince doing down here in Melbourne, Australia?

Does it matter what he’s doing? Not to me. At least, it shouldn’t. I have my instructions, and starting tomorrow, I’ll be on the clock and on the job. Again, a strange niggle in my belly makes its presence known. Anxiety? Foreboding? I can’t tell what’s causing this skittish feeling, but after all these years I trust my instincts. The urge to run begins to take over my thoughts.

Definitely time for Eleni Mikaro to disappear once and for all. I nod, even though I’m alone in the rental apartment and there’s no one to see or respond. Last one. I say it aloud, just because I can. "Yes. Damn it, yes." Definitely my last, this time. No more clients after this week. No more throwing stones.

***

Kas

Just once I’d love to go for my morning run without five hundred people tagging along. Kasper knew he sounded petulant, only today had started out bad and gotten worse, and it wasn’t even breakfast time yet. The phone call from home was not entirely unexpected and yet, hearing the latest news about his father made his gut tighten and intensified the constant headache behind his eyes. He bent to tighten a shoelace that didn’t need tightening, and took a moment to catch his breath.

Every ruling monarch in history had been through this. Somehow, they still found the strength to survive. Mourning the impending loss of a parent while at the same time stepping up to take responsibility for a whole country would be devastating. Without a doubt, it would be life changing. Not impossible.

You know there are only four of us with you. Jason sounded as patient as always, and hardly out of breath despite having kept up with Kasper’s faster-than-usual pace for the last fifteen minutes. Clearly, his friend’s ex-armed forces training regime had carried over to his current role and allowed him to stay in shape. Though, Jase did send a brief scowl in the direction of the three bodyguards still struggling to catch up, so maybe he was not quite as relaxed as he pretended. And besides, you know it’s not possible to go out alone, Sir. Especially not now, with your father—

Yes, all right. Enough, Kas cut off his bodyguard. I know I’m acting like a spoiled prick. Yet, he couldn’t bear another reminder of events at home. Jase was correct, of course, though that knowledge only fueled his irritability even further. I need space to think. To breathe. Can you just...drop back a bit, at least? Join the stragglers?

Certainly, Sir.

For fuck’s sake. Don’t call me that. Not here. It’s Kas. You know that. We’ve been friends since we were three. Just because you’ve been placed in charge of my security detail for this Australian trip doesn’t change anything in that regard.

Jason’s tightened lips said otherwise. After a moment he nodded. Certainly Si... I mean, certainly, um...Kas.

When Jason complied with the request to drop back, relief rushed through Kasper’s system. Finally, alone. Or at least, as alone as he would ever be now that developments at home were about to change his life irrevocably.

He took one more deep breath and jogged on the spot for a moment, shaking out his arms to try and loosen the growing tension across his shoulders. Exercise usually got rid of the tightness and knots, not added to them, and no matter where he was in the world, he always tried to keep a morning run in the schedule.

Melbourne presented a picturesque place to run, especially in the autumn with vibrant color everywhere. His family had adopted this Australian city as their second home, and there were many beautiful parks and gardens to choose from. Today’s track, around Albert Park Lake on the circuit of the Melbourne Grand Prix, remained one of Kasper’s favorites.

Ever since his father’s diagnosis while here on an official visit five years ago, a member of the Leoni royal family had visited the city regularly to keep an eye on development of the new research facility into cancer treatment. King Alessio had funded the facility almost entirely from his own personal fortune, out of gratitude for his own excellent treatment in this country. The center was finally ready to open for business. It was distressing news timing-wise that the sudden and aggressive return of his father’s illness had coincided with the center’s official opening next week.

The continued recalcitrance of Kasper’s thoughts only served to increase his already-high stress levels. He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and recommenced his run. This time he proceeded at a much more leisurely pace. No need to give Jason or any of the detail a heart attack just because their royal charge happened to be in a foul mood.

His thoughts were still in a chaotic mess when he rounded the next bend and stopped short at the sight that greeted him. Quite frankly, it was the cutest, roundest ass he’d ever laid eyes on. Whoa, now that’s a sight to repair even the foulest of moods. He tilted his head slightly to better enjoy the view, unable to contain a sudden grin. Well, that’s enough to focus my attention.

Encased in short black shorts that hid very little at all, the woman’s rounded cheeks had enough flesh on show to keep his gaze glued to that delectable sight. All the blood already pounding through his veins from the run headed straight down south to his groin. At least, that’s what he told himself was happening when a brief rush of dizziness jumbled his brain. He hadn’t bedded a woman in a couple of weeks, and after last night’s failure to find a suitable mate, he’d been beginning to wonder if his dick even worked anymore. This many nights with no sex was pretty much a record. At least, it was in the twelve years since he’d turned eighteen and every eligible woman in Europe emerged from the woodwork to hunt him down as a prospective suitor.

They want to throw themselves at me, then who am I to turn them down? That thought had guided his actions ever since, and even though he’d slowed down in recent years, there were still just as many women—and some men too, though he didn’t tend to swing that way—eager to jump into a crown prince’s bed.

There were plenty of willing volunteers on this trip, too, though something always held him back. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t felt like saying yes since he’d been in Australia. The strange hollow feeling in his gut gave him a sense of wrongness everywhere he looked. Maybe grief over his father? Or worry about the responsibility involved in taking the throne?

Neither fully explained his hesitation to continue along the same path he’d always taken. Why was it so different now? To Kas, it felt almost like he’d experienced an epiphany, where the excesses of his past were suddenly exposed as the meaningless actions of a spoiled brat, and the urge to grow up and take control of his own destiny overtook him. Who knew why these feelings had come to the fore. Most likely something to do with a heavy crown waiting to drop onto my shoulders in the very near future.

If only his twin brother Dav had been the older one, or their baby sister Isabella. Twelve minutes ahead, and it all fell to Kasper.

Whatever the reason for his recent sexual disinterest, it had seemed unexplainable. Until this moment. Maybe it was as simple as finding a desirable woman worth the effort of a chase.

At least his cock still worked. It practically stood at attention right now,