The Princes' Brides. Sandra Marton

His firm mouth. His soft mouth. His mouth that was, any woman could tell, made for long, deep kisses…

      God, she was in bad shape. Anger, adrenaline, whatever you called it, was pumping through her veins. She was completely stressed out.

      A man would know what to do to ease such stress.

      He’d go to a gym and sweat it out. Actually that would work for her, too, but her gym, a gym for women, was closed. Hey, it was Saturday. Date night for the fairer sex, right?

      “Such crap,” Aimee said.

      She could almost feel the steam coming out of her ears.

      Or a man would call up his buddies, meet them someplace crowded and noisy and guzzle beer. That’s what men under pressure did, didn’t they? Go out, drink, talk about stupid things, pick up women?

      Sex was the great relaxer. Everybody said so. Okay, not her because she’d had sex and it had been far from memorable but according to everything she’d read, sex could lower your stress levels every time.

      Aimee snorted.

      Imagine if a woman did that. Called a friend, went someplace loud to drink and looked for a guy to pick up. Went to bed with him, no strings, no ridiculous exchange of names and phone numbers. Just bed.

      Just sex.

      Of course, some women did. They went looking for sex.

      Sex with a stranger. A stranger with dark hair. Blue eyes. A square jaw, straight nose, firm mouth. And that little accent…

      The phone rang. Let it. Her voice mail could take the call.

      Hi, her recorded voice said briskly. You’ve reached 555-6145. Please leave a message after the tone.

      “Aimee, it’s Jen.”

      The last person she wanted to talk to! Jen had taken a job with Fox and Curtrain after Aimee pointed her toward it.

      “I’m not going to take it,” she’d said, “so why shouldn’t you?”

      Why, indeed?

      “Aimee, look, I know this isn’t your thing but a new club opened right near me and it’s supposed to draw a hot crowd. And it’s Laura’s birthday, remember her, from the second floor in our dorm? She’s in town and a bunch of us are getting together to, you know, check out the club…” There was giggling in the background and Aimee rolled her eyes. “Okay, Laura’s right. To check out the guys, see if they’re as hunky as everybody says.”

      “Jen?” Aimee said, picking up the phone.

      “Oh, you’re there! Listen, I don’t know what you’re doing tonight, but—”

      “I’m not doing anything. I’ve had—it’s been one of those days, you know?”

      “All the more reason to go with us. Have a drink, listen to some hot music—”

      “Get picked up by some hot guy,” a female voice in the background said, to another round of giggles.

      “That’s the last thing I need,” Aimee said. “I mean, is that all I’m good for? To go to a club where the music’s so loud I won’t be able to think? To let a guy pick me up, buy me a drink—”

      “Yeah. I know. It’s a meat market out there—but sometimes, well, sometimes that can be fun. You know. No BS. Just an evening of fun and games.”

      “It’s bad enough men think that’s what we’re all about. That we’re useless except in the kitchen or the bedroom. We don’t have to play into their stupid fantasy.”

      Silence. Then Jen cleared her throat. “Okay,” she said carefully, “so just forget that I—”

      “Not that I couldn’t be some jerk’s idea of a centerfold playmate, if I wanted.”

      “Uh, Aimee, look, I have to run, so—”

      “I could go to this club with you. Dance, drink, let some guy pick me up for a night of mind-blowing sex!”

      The telephone line hummed with silence again. Then Jen spoke.

      “So, uh, are you saying you want to go with us?”

      Aimee took a deep, deep breath. “You’re damned right I am,” she said.

      Twenty minutes later, dressed in a red silk dress she’d bought on sale and never had a reason to wear, ditto for a pair of strappy gold sandals, Aimee took a last look in the mirror, gave her image a quick salute, then headed out the door.

      Chapter Two

      LUCAS’S CLUB was everything Damian had promised.

      Like most hot Manhattan nightspots, it was in a neighborhood that had once been grungy and commercial and now was grungy and upscale. Streets that had once been relegated to the nitty-gritty of daily life now came alive after dark. Warehouses had given way to expensive, exclusive clubs.

      Lucas’s place was located in a dark brick building with shuttered windows. There was no sign to indicate that what had once been a factory was now Le Club Hot.

      No sign. No published telephone number. You either knew the club existed or you didn’t, which went a long way toward sorting out the clientele, Nicolo thought wryly as he opened a heavy, brass-hinged door and stepped, with Damian, into what might have been the small lobby of an upscale hotel.

      The behemoth who greeted them was not someone you’d ever find behind a reception desk. They gave him their names, he checked a list, then smiled.

      He pressed a button, and the wall ahead of them slid back.

      “Wow,” Damian said softly.

      Nicolo had to agree. “Wow” summed it up.

      The first thing you noticed was the noise. Music, heavy on bass, went straight into your blood.

      Then you realized that the room you’d walked into was huge.

      The designer had carefully left the exposed overhead pipes and old brick walls but everything else—the lighting, the endless Lucite bar, the elevated dance floor and the music—was dazzlingly modern.

      “You could play American football in here,” Damian murmured. “Especially since the place comes equipped with so many cheerleaders.”

      He grinned, and Nicolo grinned back at him. It was true. The room was filled with people, more than half of them women. Young. Stunning. Sexy. Faces recognizable from European and American magazine covers and movies.

      What an idiot he’d been, letting what happened this afternoon get him worked up. Damian had it right. This was what he needed. Lights. Music.

      Women.

      This was the way to relax.

      “Barbieri! Aristedes!”

      Lucas was making his way through the crowd toward them. The men exchanged handshakes and then Lucas rolled his eyes and grabbed them both in a bear hug.

      “Ugly as always,” he said, raising his voice over the pulsating beat of the music, “but not to worry. I’ve told a bunch of lies about you both and made you sound so interesting that people are willing to meet you, despite your looks.”

      The three of them grinned. Then Lucas pointed toward a suspended, transparent staircase.

      “My table’s up there,” he shouted. “On the mezzanine. It’s quieter…and the view is óptimo!”

      He was right. The table overlooked the dance floor and the sound level dropped from deafening to ear-shattering.

      And the view was, indeed, excellent.

      “What scenery,” Damian said.

      He meant, of course, the women.