The Mills & Boon Ultimate Christmas Collection. Kate Hardy

storm had died down by the time the celebrations were over.

      When Nathaniel suggested they leave shortly before eleven, Catalina smiled and got to her feet without comment.

      She had performed beautifully throughout the reception; a princess in every sense of the word. Her lack of appetite had been the only outward sign of anything being amiss. That, and her eyes containing all the emotion of a porcelain doll. The only real emotion he’d seen had been that flash of fury when he’d lifted her veil.

      It was impossible to know what was going on in her head.

      ‘Are we not going to wait for my cases?’ she asked when his driver turned the engine on.

      ‘They’ve already been sent to my apartment.’

      She gave a nod and looked out of the window.

      After many minutes of silence, he said, ‘Is there something on your mind, Catalina?’

      She took a long, quiet breath before answering. ‘My father sent his assistant and her team into my rooms earlier to do an inventory of my possessions.’

      ‘When you say your possessions, what are we talking about?’

      ‘Everything. My clothes and jewellery, my books...everything. I’m concerned about the timing. It was deliberately timed for when I was preparing for our marriage. And I’m concerned about what he wants it for.’

      ‘What do you think he’s going to do with the inventory?’ he asked carefully, recalling his conversation with Dominic and the Prince’s threats to make Catalina homeless and penniless.

      ‘I don’t know. That’s what’s so frightening. It was definitely a warning of some kind. A power thing. I don’t know.’ She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. ‘Another punishment for the situation I’ve put us all in.’

      Nathaniel balled his hands into fists.

      It infuriated him that the King allowed Dominic’s prejudice to influence him so much. He quite understood why the King didn’t think him good enough for his daughter—with his reputation he could hardly blame him—but to treat her in such a manner was unforgivable.

      Family dynamics were a strange and complex thing but this was her own flesh and blood acting so cruelly towards her.

      And then he remembered what he’d done to his own flesh and blood. It had been unforgivable, and no amount of repentance could ever change that.

      ‘I’m sure you have nothing to worry about,’ he lied smoothly. When it came to her father and brother, he would put nothing past them.

      From the corner of his eye he saw her chest rise, and those gloriously heavy breasts lifting with the motion. The desire he’d spent the whole day suppressing suddenly came to the fore, a stab of lust piercing him, so powerful not even the mightiest of willpower could keep it contained.

      He was thrown back to when she’d lain beneath him, naked, the echo of her heartbeat pulsing through her chest.

      He’d reluctantly—reluctant only because at that point he hadn’t wanted to let go of her—moved to get a condom when she’d gripped his wrist. ‘Do you always use protection?’ she’d whispered.

      ‘Always.’

      She’d swallowed and palmed his cheek. ‘If this is the only chance I get to make love with someone I desire then I want to experience all of it. I want to feel you inside me as you are.’

      He’d stared into those sultry eyes a man could sink into and known she was serious. And known he wanted nothing more than to experience all of it too, as he had never wanted to before.

      ‘Please,’ she’d said, her voice so low he’d had to strain to hear it. ‘Just for this one moment.’

      Nathaniel had had many lovers in his life. Several had been on the pill or used other forms of contraception and had told him he didn’t need the condoms. It had never been something he would even contemplate.

      With Catalina...

      He’d taken her that first time completely bare. He’d taken it slowly, using all his experience and willpower to stop himself from getting carried away before he’d withdrawn and sheathed himself.

      The thought came into his mind that now she was his wife and their moment of wilful madness had resulted in pregnancy, he could make love to her whenever and wherever he liked and be able to feel every part of it.

      He pushed the thought away, angry with himself for letting his mind wander in directions it shouldn’t go.

      This marriage was to secure his rights to his child, protect Catalina from her family’s vindictiveness and protect his huge investment in this country. It could never be more than that.

      The silence between them lasted until his driver parked in the underground garage beneath the building.

      Right in front of his designated spaces was the private elevator, manned by a security guard.

      Nathaniel punched in the code and the doors opened.

      ‘This elevator is for our private use,’ he explained as they stepped inside. ‘It only goes to my apartment.’

      When they reached the top floor he stood aside to let her in.

      Wherever he happened to be based, Nathaniel liked to surround himself in comfort. He owned property all over the world. He wanted for nothing. He need not work another day in his life and still he would never want for anything.

      Catalina, though, was a princess. She had been raised in a palace of one of the oldest, most famous families in the world. Luxury was nothing new to her. The luxury Nathaniel lived in was of a very different, more modern kind.

      ‘This is not what I expected,’ she said as she trailed him into the main living area of the large, open space. Nathaniel’s apartment, with its high ceilings and tall windows, covered the entire top floor. She stared with definite interest at the expensive furniture and adornments.

      ‘What were you expecting?’

      One elegant shoulder raised into a shrug. ‘Something showy. It’s bigger than I thought it would be. It reminds me of those loft conversions you see in New York.’

      ‘You’ve been to New York?’

      A wistful smile. ‘No. La Belle often interviews famous New Yorkers in their homes. I like to look at pictures of other people’s homes.’

      ‘You have travelled though,’ he stated casually, not liking the tug her wistfulness had evoked in him.

      ‘Extensively. After my mother died I became my father’s official consort and accompanied him on many of his overseas state visits. We always stayed in official residences, never informal homes.’ Both her shoulders rose this time. ‘Living somewhere like this...it will be new for me.’

      Like pulling a swan out of its lake and placing it in a pond.

      Another tug pulled at his guts.

      ‘I’ll introduce you to Frederic,’ he said. ‘He will make the transition easier for you.’

      Seconds later, his butler appeared. Frederic took Catalina’s hand and bowed. ‘It is an honour to have you here, Your Highness.’

      She gave Frederic her first genuine smile of the day. ‘If I’m going to be living here, you must call me Catalina.’

      He looked almost offended. ‘I could never be so informal.’

      ‘Only in private,’ she said kindly. ‘When there are guests you can be as formal as you wish.’

      ‘Nicely done,’ Nathaniel said when Frederic had disappeared to the staff quarters. ‘You had him eating out of your hand in thirty seconds flat.’

      In one short conversation, Catalina had dispelled the notion that she was some kind