Tempted by the Prince (The Raminar Family Book 4) Read online

  Tempted by the Prince

  By Elizabeth Lennox

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  Copyright 2021

  ISBN13: 9781950451289

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Any duplication of this material, either electronic or any other format, either currently in use or a future invention, is strictly prohibited, unless you have the direct consent of the author.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Epilogue

  Excerpt for One More Kiss

  Chapter 1

  “You want…what?!” Rachel asked, trying to hide the panic that was filling her throat.

  Princess Talia, Rachel’s boss, smiled as she patted her infant son’s bottom, the little guy was fast asleep in her arms and adorably cute. “My brother wants to build a university. He needs someone who understands the details, knows how to get things done, and is reliable and trustworthy. That’s you, Rachel. You’ve been an incredible assistant and are amazing at organizing everything and knowing what has to happen. You’re perfect for the job.”

  Inwardly, Rachel cringed. “Trustworthy”. Yep, that was her. She was reliable and trustworthy. Loyal. Hardworking.

  Her boss and good friend could have described a golden retriever with the same adjectives. Rachel fought not to show how much those words hurt.

  Rachel looked down at her gathered, flowered skirt that she’d paired with a high-necked silk blouse and wished she looked less…frumpy. She compared herself to Talia who, even post-partum, looked gloriously beautiful in a blue cotton dress that hugged her breasts then draped lovingly over her still-plump belly. In contrast, Rachel was just…ordinary. Her only saving grace, her green eyes, were overwhelmed by her hair. She couldn’t seem to tame it. The wild spirals had a mind of their own and nothing she’d tried in the past could smooth them out. Oh, how she’d love to have silky, dark, smooth hair like Talia’s! Rachel couldn’t help but admire the way Talia’s hair cascaded over her shoulders, looking sleek and sophisticated.

  As Rachel watched Talia sooth her newborn son back to sleep, that wistful stab of envy gnawed at her. Rachel was twenty-six years old and had been working with Princess Talia for a while now. But what about her hopes for a child? For a family? She worked long hours, ensuring that the princess’s schedule ran smoothly, running interception on anything that might clog up the day’s plans, and resolved crises before they happened. That left little time for dating and romance.

  Not that she’d had a great deal of romance before taking this job! And in truth, she absolutely loved working for Talia. The hard work was a breeze compared to what she’d done before coming here.

  No, the issue wasn’t the job or the long hours. It was…that niggling sense that life was passing her by. That she’d never find the time to have a life dictated by her own terms, a life centered around her family and her children. Often, Rachel felt as if she were sitting on the sidelines, watching everyone else be happy and find their dreams, falling in love and having precious babies.

  The idea of Tarin being the father of her children popped into her mind. But that image wasn’t new. In fact, it had occurred to her so many times that she was used to pushing it away.

  The idea of helping Talia’s brother with a project as massive as building a university was an amazing opportunity, Rachel told herself.

  However, no matter how amazing the opportunity or exciting the challenge, Rachel couldn’t take on this project for one excellent reason.

  She was in love with Prince Tarin.

  Embarrassing and heart-wrenching to admit, not to mention trite and predictable. And yet, still true. There was no way Rachel could work side by side for the man again! She’d done it for a few months after Princess Talia’s marriage to Sheik Santos of Padar. But after the princess’ wedding, Talia had worked mostly here in Padar, and Rachel had worked very hard to stifle, or at least ignore, her feelings for the handsome prince. For a while now, she’d been successful at ignoring her painful, unrequited love for the tall, amazingly handsome, virile, gorgeous, and funny prince.

  So no. Work directly for the man? She just couldn’t do it!

  Shifting slightly in the comfortable chair, Rachel folded her hands over her lap, trying to appear calm. “Thank you so much for the compliment,” she said, pulling her shoulders back, “but I already have a job, Your Highness. I work for you.”

  Talia grinned, her eyes lighting up. “That’s the best part! I’m taking some time off.” She looked down at her two week old son. “I know that I worked right after giving birth to Sinan,” she explained, referring to her first son, “but this time, I’m going to take off more time. No interviews, no light duty.” She sighed and leaned back slightly, staring lovingly at her infant son. “I really pushed too hard after Sinan’s birth two years ago. I told Santos that I wanted to slow down this time. He even agreed to slow down with me and has already delegated more than half of his responsibilities to his staff for the next several months. So both of us are taking time off in order to be with our kids.”

  Rachel swallowed past the lump of envy that threatened to choke her. “That sounds wonderful,” she whispered, then cleared her throat to allay the worry in Talia’s eyes. “I’m so happy for both of you.”

  Princess Talia’s smile brightened. “Then it’s settled. You’ll work with Tarin for the next several months and I’ll enjoy being a momma. Then we’ll meet back here in three months and start over. Sounds good, right?!”

  Rachel thought hard, but she couldn’t come up with any alternatives besides quitting. But since she absolutely loved her job, loved working with Princess Talia, she pressed her lips together, suppressing the urge to beg Her Highness not to throw her to the wolf!

  Rachel stood up and walked out of the room on numb legs, frantically trying to come up with a plan. Any plan! Anything that would keep her from being around Prince Tarin el Raminar, the most amazingly wonderful, sweetly kind man she’d ever met in her life!

  Just being on the opposite side of the room from him had once sent her heart fluttering and she’d dropped her armload of papers. Thankfully, he’d been too far away to notice what was happening, but she’d learned her lesson that day.

  Tarin closed his eyes as he dropped his phone on the desk. Looking outside at the small, sun-filled courtyard, he breathed slowly in, held the breath for a few seconds, then released the air in a controlled manner. He’d learned the technique after training with the US Navy SEALs and it had served him well over the years.

  Unfortunately, the SEALs had never met Rachel Morris. The breathing technique didn’t help in any way and his body tightened just thinking about the woman’s delicate features and her soft curves, which she always kept hidden beneath the most hideous outfits. Unfortunately, those dresses were more like some sort of virginal fetish-wear, he thought, leaning his hands against his desk and bowing his he
ad. She was so incredibly lovely in a soft, delicate way.

  She was beautiful, but he couldn’t say that Rachel was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, but there was just something about her, something that called to him. She could be just walking down the hallway and when he’d see her, his body would tighten with desire as he watched those flowered, librarian/school-teacher dresses flutter around her legs. Every time she pushed those dark-rimmed glasses higher up onto her nose, it felt like she was touching his…!

  “Damn it!” he snapped.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” his brother, Gaelen, asked. Gaelen was about eighteen months younger than their oldest brother, Amit, who was the leader of Izara, and every time a birthday came around, Tarin thanked God for their birth order! The thought of what Amit had to deal with every damn day would leave Tarin begging for mercy. Amit released the tension from his oppressive responsibilities by drawing and, lately, painting. He was pretty damn good too.

  But Tarin enjoyed being responsible for the infrastructure of Izara. He loved inspecting bridges and buildings, commissioning road projects and water systems. The job called to his long passion of architecture and suited his personality perfectly.

  Gaelen dropped a file on his desk. “These are the consultants you asked me about last week.”

  Tarin looked at the thick folder and groaned. Just the thought of going through all those reports made his shoulder muscles tighten, because he knew that he should hand off the task to his assistant. And he would…as soon as the lovely, shockingly sexy Rachel arrived. Which would be in…he looked at his watch and sighed…two days, four hours, and sixteen minutes.

  “I heard that Rachel is coming back to take care of this mess,” Galen continued, slouching into one of the leather chairs in front of Tarin’s desk.

  Tarin turned away, frustrated beyond measure. “Right. I just got off the phone with Talia.”

  “So, when is Rachel arriving?”

  Tarin had the sudden urge to punch his older brother. Not for any valid reason. Just because he couldn’t handle the almost unrelenting desire that he’d be forced to endure as soon as Rachel arrived. “I don’t know,” he lied.

  Gaelen chuckled, and once again, Tarin ignored him.

  His brother slapped his knees as if he’d just had a brilliant idea. “Well, hang in there. Rachel will get here soon and she’ll fix all of this stuff, organize it into a well-oiled project machine.”

  With that, Gaelen pushed out of the chair and walked out of Tarin’s office.

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of,” he muttered.

  “What the hell are you afraid of?”

  Tarin leaned his head back in frustration as Amit, his oldest brother, walked in. “What do you want?” he demanded with absolutely no respect for his brother, despite him being the Sheik of their fair country.

  Amit chuckled and Tarin turned to find his brother leaning in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. “I heard that Rachel was coming back. Any word on when she’ll arrive?”

  Once again, Tarin had to restrain the urge to swing. Physical release might be exactly what he needed right now. But Amit didn’t deserve it, and besides, there was only a fifty percent chance that Tarin’s fist would connect.

  “I have no idea. I just got off the phone with Talia. Rachel will need an apartment, arrange to have all of her furniture moved back here, pack up her house, and…”

  “She shouldn’t have to worry about all that. Just put her in one of the executive apartments. That’s why we have them, after all. They are fully furnished, two bedroom apartments. Rachel would just need to pack up her clothes and she could be here tonight.”

  Tarin glared at Amit, but his older brother only smiled. Amit didn’t used to be this happy. He used to be the grump of the family. That was before Harper, his wife and the mother of his two children, arrived and told the ass to get over himself.

  “That’s a good idea,” he grumbled, but didn’t pick up the phone to make the call. The longer he could delay Rachel’s arrival, the better. He needed time to mentally prepare.

  Apparently, Amit wasn’t going to give him that time, the bastard! “I’ll have Rashid work out the details. We’ll fly her up in the private jet tonight, so she doesn’t have to take a commercial flight.” With that, Amit left, whistling annoyingly.

  Tarin glared daggers at his older brother’s back, wishing that he could come up with a viable reason to stop him. But everything Amit had said made perfect sense and was actually far more convenient for Rachel. If she’d had to find her own apartment, she’d need to look around for at least a weekend. And because Rachel was so careful, she’d look at several apartments before making a decision. She’d weigh the pros and cons of each building and the property’s amenities, calculate the commute time, and locate the grocery stores and dry cleaners in the area. He smiled, knowing that Rachel would even drive to her preferred location at night, listen for sounds, walk the streets to make sure she felt safe and comfortable.

  Rachel was one of the most detail oriented women he’d ever met. If she hadn’t been so loyal to Talia, and if Tarin didn’t lust after her so badly, he would have tried to steal Rachel away from his baby sister by now. But having Rachel around was…painful. She was so damn beautiful and everything about her, from the way she smiled to the way she walked…it all turned him on! Before she’d moved to Padar after Talia married that ass Santos, Tarin had been in an almost constant state of arousal, just because he’d see Rachel around the palace hallways.

  So, what the hell was he going to do now? Rachel would be on a plane, most likely by tonight and, because she was such a dedicated employee, she’d report to work in the morning.

  “Hell!” he groaned and turned around.

  He remembered the first time he’d seen her. She had been so shy, so tentative and worried that she’d mess up somehow. Talia had raved about Rachel’s brilliance from day one. When he’d stepped into Talia’s office during the first week of Rachel’s employment, he’d seen her drop papers, break a pencil, spill coffee all over her desk, and even trip over her chair.

  When she’d looked up at him with those huge, green eyes, blinking back tears of embarrassment, he’d smiled, trying to ease her fears. “It’s going to be okay,” he’d told her gently.

  Even then, he’d felt something. It had been strange, like a tingling sensation that had started in his groin. Tarin had tried to ignore it. Rachel was pretty, with delicate features, beautiful green eyes, and hair that…damn, his fingers ached to explore those auburn curls, to see if they were soft or coarse, to twirl one around his finger and see how long her hair really was.

  But her hideous flowered dress with the lace around the neck and the full skirt wasn’t anything to draw a man’s eye. She was…pretty but…like a librarian. A sexy, naughty librarian!

  That night, he’d had the most erotic dream of his entire life. He’d been taking off that flowered dress, stroking her soft, full thighs and…he’d woken in a cold sweat, his body rock hard and his muscles tight with lust. He’d looked around that night, searching for the soft, warm, female body. But his bed had been empty.

  That had been two years ago. His bed had been empty ever since! Tarin had tried to find another woman, searched for someone that might temper this painful lust he felt for Rachel. But no other woman had tempted him even slightly. It was almost like…like Rachel’s damn flowered skirts had ruined him for other women.

  He cursed the fact that Rachel was coming back and he blamed his brothers for the speed at which his life was about to careen out of control.

  Rachel lugged her heavy suitcase out of the back of her small, economical SUV, dumping it onto the tarmac. “Ugh!” She took a deep breath. One of the ways she’d learned to deal with the intense heat of the desert climate here in Padar, which was similar to that of Izara, was to never work outside during the middle of the day. The cool mornings were lovely and the chilly evenings almost magical. But the heat of the afternoon
was truly unbearable.

  If she’d had her way, Rachel would be right back in her precious Atlanta, Georgia, where the grass was a soft green at this time of the year. The roses would be in full bloom and the air would be languid with the balmy summer breeze.

  Pushing her sunglasses higher up her nose, she slapped a hand down on top of her annoying, floppy hat before it blew away. The gust of intensely hot air that threatened to take her hat with it wasn’t a breeze. It was God’s furnace.

  “Good grief,” she muttered, hitching her tote bag higher up onto her shoulder as she headed for the ridiculously large plane that was waiting for her, her suitcase rolling alongside.

  An airport worker hurried over to her, his mirrored sunglasses hiding his eyes. “Are you Ms. Morris?” he yelled over the roar of the plane.

  “Yes. That’s me,” she yelled back, leaning towards the man’s ear to be heard.

  He smiled and nodded. “I’ll take that for you, ma’am. Go ahead and board the plane. We’ll take off as soon as you’re seated.”

  Startled, Rachel immediately handed over her cumbersome suitcase, wiping her hands on her flowered skirt. “Oh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to hold up the others.” Rachel ignored the man’s confused expression as she rushed across the hot cement towards the stairs that had been rolled up to the door of the plane. Grabbing onto the steel stair rail, she jerked her hand back with a hiss. The sun had heated the steel handrail until it was too hot to touch. “Darn it! Why did I do that?” As she raced up the stairs, Rachel gathered up her full skirt so that she didn’t step on it, careful not to trip because she didn’t want to grab the handrail again.

  “Good afternoon, Ms. Morris,” the flight attendant greeted her with a coolly professional smile. “We’re ready whenever you are.”

  Rachel sighed with relief as the blessedly cool air of the plane caressed her overheated skin, and looked around, ready to smile her apologies to the other passengers. But the plane was empty. “Um…where’s everyone else?” she asked, moving deeper into the divinely cool interior.