A Bride for His Majesty s Pleasure Read online




  If she was trembling with the fragility of new spring buds in the wind, then it was because of her shock

  If she felt weak and her heart was pounding with dangerous speed, then it was because of the weight of her gown. If she couldn’t move, then it was because of the arms that imprisoned her.

  It was because her heart was racing so fast that his own had started to pound heavily, Max told himself. It was because the walls either side of the steps enclosed them that he was so conscious of the scent of her hair and her skin. It was because he was a man and she was a woman that his body was flooded with an unwanted surge of physical arousal that had him tightening his hold on her.

  Extreme danger and extreme desire went hand in hand, and produced between them an extreme pleasure that was an almost unbearable delight. A delight that was merely a foretaste of what the night that lay before them would hold.

  Dear Reader,

  Harlequin Presents® is all about passion, power and seduction—along with oodles of wealth and abundant glamour. This is the series of the rich and the superrich. Private jets, luxury cars and international settings that range from the wildly exotic to the bright lights of the big city! We want to whisk you away to the far corners of the globe and allow you to escape to and indulge in a unique world of unforgettable men and passionate romances. There is only one Harlequin Presents. And we promise you the world….

  As if this weren’t enough, there’s more! More of what you love every month. Two weeks after the Presents titles hit the shelves, four Presents EXTRA titles go on sale! Presents EXTRA is selected especially for you—your favorite authors and much-loved themes have been handpicked to create exclusive collections for your reading pleasure. Now there are more excuses to indulge! Each month, there’s a new collection to treasure—you won’t want to miss out.

  Harlequin Presents—still the original and the best!

  Best wishes,

  The Editors

  Penny Jordan

  A BRIDE FOR HIS MAJESTY’S PLEASURE

  All about the author…

  Penny Jordan

  PENNY JORDAN has been writing for more than twenty-five years and has an outstanding record: over 165 novels published, including the phenomenally successful A Perfect Family, To Love, Honour and Betray, The Perfect Sinner and Power Play, which hit the Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller lists. She says she hopes to go on writing until she has passed the 200 mark, and maybe even the 250 mark.

  Although Penny was born in Preston, Lancashire, U.K., and spent her childhood there, as a teenager she moved to Cheshire, where she continues to reside. Following the death of her husband, she moved to the small traditional Cheshire market town, on which she based her CRIGHTONS books.

  She lives with a large hairy German shepherd dog—Sheba—and an equally hairy Birman cat—Posh—both of whom assist her with her writing. Posh sits on the newspapers and magazines that Penny reads to provide her with ideas she can adapt for her fictional books, and Sheba demands the long walks that help Penny to free up the mental creative process.

  Penny is a member and supporter of both the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Romance Writers of America—two organizations dedicated to providing support for both published and yet-to-be-published authors.

  CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  PROLOGUE

  ‘AND if I refuse to marry you?’ Although she did her best not to allow her feelings to show, she was conscious of the fact that her voice trembled slightly.

  Max looked at her.

  ‘I think you already know the answer to your own question.’

  The dying sun streaming in through the tower window warmed the darkness of her hair and revealed the classical beauty of her facial bone structure, before stroking golden fingers along the exposed column of her throat.

  A twenty-first-century woman, caught in an ancient and powerful trap of savagery and custom, Max acknowledged wryly, if only to himself.

  The intensity of the powerful and unwanted emotional and physical reaction that punched through him caught him off guard. It was a dangerous mix of sympathy and desire, neither of which he should be feeling. But most especially not the desire. Immediately Max turned away from her—like a schoolboy desperate to conceal the over-enthusiastic and inappropriate reaction of his developing maleness, he derided himself. But he was not a schoolboy, and furthermore he was perfectly capable of controlling both his emotions and his physical desire. So his own body had momentarily caught him off guard? It would not happen again.

  What he was doing wasn’t something he wanted to do, nor was it in any way for his own benefit. It was a duty, and she was the doorway via which he could access what he needed to help those who needed it so desperately. It was a loathsome situation; either he sacrificed her, and in a sense himself, or he risked sacrificing his people. He did not have the luxury of indulging in personal and private emotional needs. His duty now obliged him to channel his thoughts and feelings towards those to whom he had given his commitment when he had accepted the crown and become the ruling Prince of Fortenegro. His people. This woman’s people.

  He turned back towards her. So much was at stake; the future of a whole country lay in this woman’s hands. He would have preferred to be honest with her—but how could he, given her family background? She was a rich man’s grandchild. Her grandfather a man, he knew now, who had alternated between both over-indulging his grandchildren and over-controlling them—to the extent that they had become adept at deceit and were motivated only by self interest.

  Ionanthe looked at the man facing her—a man who represented so much that she hated.

  ‘You mean that I’ll be thrown to the wolves, so to speak? In the form of the people? Forced to pay my family’s debt of honour to you?’

  When he gave no reply she laughed bitterly.

  ‘And you dare to call yourself civilized?’

  ‘I own neither the crime nor its punishment. I am as impotent in this situation as you are yourself,’ Max defended himself caustically.

  Impotent. It was a deliberately telling choice of word, surely, given that he had just told her that she must marry him and give him a son as recompense for her sister’s crimes against him. Or be handed over to the people to be tried by a feudal form of justice that was no justice at all.

  As he waited for her response Max thought back over the events that had led them both to this unwanted impasse.

  CHAPTER ONE

  ‘THERE must be vengeance, Highness.’ The courtier was emphatic and determined as he addressed Max.

  The Count no doubt considered him ill fitted for his role of ruler of the island of Fortenegro—the black fort, so named originally because of the sheer dark cliffs that protected the mainland facing side of the island.

  ‘Justice must be seen to be done,’ Count Petronius continued forcefully.

  The Count, like most of the courtiers, was in his late sixties. Fortenegro’s society was fiercely patriarchal, and its laws harsh and even cruel, reflecting its refusal to move with the times. A refusal which Max fully intended to change. The only reason he had not flatly refused to step into his late cousin’s shoes and become the new ruler of the principality was because of his determination to do what he knew his late father had longed to do
—and that was to bring Fortenegro, and more importantly its people, out of the Dark Ages and into the light of the twenty-first century. That, though, was going to take time and patience, and first he must win the respect of his people and, just as importantly, their trust.

  Fortenegrans were constitutionally opposed to change—especially, according to his courtiers, any kind of change that threatened their way of life and the beliefs that went with that way of life: beliefs such as the need to take revenge for insults and slights both real and imagined.

  ‘An eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth—that is the law of our people,’ the Count continued enthusiastically. ‘And they will expect you to uphold it. In their eyes a prince and a ruler who cannot protect his own honour cannot be trusted to protect theirs. That is their way and the way they live.’

  And not just them, Max reflected grimly as he looked one by one at the group of elderly courtiers who had been his late cousin’s advisers and who, in many ways, despite the fact that he was now ruler of the island, were still reluctant to cede to him the power they had taken for themselves during his late cousin’s reign. But then Cosmo had been a playboy, unashamedly hedonistic and not in the least bit interested in the island he ruled or its people—only the wealth with which it had provided him.

  Cosmo, though, was dead—dying at thirty-two of the damage inflicted by the so-called ‘recreational’ drugs to which he had become addicted. He’d been without a son to succeed him, leaving the title to pass to Max.

  Justice must indeed be seen to be done, Max knew, but it would be his justice, not theirs, done in his way and according to his judgement and his beliefs.

  The most senior of his late cousin’s advisers was speaking again.

  ‘The people will expect you to revenge yourself on the family of your late wife because of her betrayal of you.’

  Max knew that the Count and Eloise’s grandfather had been sworn enemies, united only by their shared adherence to a moral code that was primitive and arcane. Now, with Eloise and her grandfather dead, he was being urged to take revenge on the sole remaining member of the family—his late wife’s sister—for Eloise’s betrayal of their marriage and her failure to provide him with the promised heir.

  In the eyes of his people it was not merely his right but his duty to them as their ruler to carry out full vengeance according to the ancient laws relating to any damage done to a man’s honour. His late wife’s family must make full restitution for the shame she had brought on them and on him. Traditionally, that meant that the dishonoured husband could set aside the wife who had betrayed him and take in her place one of her sisters or cousins, who must then provide him with the son his wife’s betrayal had denied him.

  These were ancient laws, passed down by word of mouth, and Max was appalled at the thought of giving in to them and to those who clung so fiercely to them. But he had no choice. Not if he wanted to win the trust of his people. Without that trust he knew that he could not hope to change things, to bring the island and those who lived there into the modern world. He had already sacrificed his personal beliefs once by marrying Eloise in the first place. Did he really want to do so a second time? Especially when it meant involving someone else? And if so, why?

  The status and wealth of being the island’s ruler meant little to him. He was already wealthy, and the very idea of one person ‘ruling’ others went against his strongest beliefs.

  But he was the island’s ruler, whether he wanted to be or not, and as such he owed its people—his people—a duty of care. He might never succeed in bringing change to the older generation, but for the sake of their children and their children’s children he had to win the trust of the leaders and the elders so that those changes could be slowly put in place.

  Refusing to accept their way of life and ignoring the laws that meant so much to them would only create hostility. Max knew all these things, but still the whole idea of honour and vengeance was repugnant to him.

  A year ago he would have laughed in disbelief at the very idea that he might find himself the ruler of an island in the Aegean off the coast of Croatia.

  He had known about the island and its history, of course. His father had spoken often of it, and the older brother with whom he had quarrelled as a young man—because his brother had refused to acknowledge that for the sake of the island’s people it was necessary to spend some of his vast fortune on improving the quality of their lives and their education.

  Max’s father had explained to him that the island was locked in its own past, and that the men who had advised his grandfather and then his own father were hostile to modernisation, fearing for their wealth and status.

  His father, with his astute brain and compassion for the human race, had proved that being wealthy and being a philanthropist were far from mutually exclusive, and after the death of his parents Max had continued with their charitable work as head of the foundation his father had started. Under Max’s financial guidance both his own personal wealth and that of the foundation had grown, and Max had joined the exclusive ranks of that small and discreet group of billionaires who used their wealth for the benefit of others. Anonymity was a prized virtue of this group of generous benefactors. Max was as different from his late cousin as it was possible to be.

  Physically, Max had inherited through his father’s genes the tall, broad-shouldered physique of the warrior princes who had coveted and conquered the island many generations ago, along with thick dark hair and a profile that could sometimes look as though it had been hewn from the rock that protected the island from its enemies, so little did his expression give away.

  Only his slate-blue eyes came from his English mother; the rest of him was, as his father had often said, ‘pure Fortenegro and its royal house.’ The evidence of the truth of that statement could be seen in the profile stamped into the island’s ancient coinage, but whilst outwardly he might resemble his ancestors, inwardly Max was his own man—a man who fully intended to remove from the people of the island the heavy yoke of custom and oppression under which they lived.

  When he had first come to the island to take up the reins of ruling he had promised himself that he would bring the people out of the darkness of poverty and lack of opportunity into the light. But it was proving a far harder task than he had anticipated.

  The men who formed his ‘court’, instead of supporting him, were completely antagonistic towards any kind of modernisation, and continually warned him of the risk of riots and worse from the people if their way of life were to be challenged.

  In an attempt to do the right thing Max had married the granddaughter of one of his nobles—a marriage of mutual convenience, which Eloise had assured him she wanted, saying that she would be proud to provide the island with its next ruler. What she had not told him was that whilst she was happy to become his Princess, she had no intention of giving up her regular pasttime of taking a lover whenever she felt like it—foreigners, normally, who had come to the island for one reason or another.

  Within hours of the deaths of Eloise and her current lover, when their car had plunged over one of Fortenegro’s steep cliffs, gossip about her relationship with the man she had been with had begun. A maid at the castle had seen Eloise in bed in her grandfather’s apartment with her lover, and before too long the whole island had known.

  Now, six months after her death and following the death of her grandfather, his barons were pressing him to exact revenge on her family for her betrayal.

  ‘It is your duty,’ his courtiers had insisted. ‘Your late wife’s sister must make restitution. She must provide you with the son your wife denied you. That is the way of our people. Your wife shamed you. Only by taking her sister can that shame be expunged and both your honour and the honour of her family be restored.’

  ‘I doubt that Eloise’s sister would agree with you.’

  Neither his wife nor her grandfather had ever spoken much about Eloise’s sister. All Max knew about her, other than the fact that she existed
, was that, having trained as an economist, she now lived and worked in Europe.

  ‘She no longer lives here,’ Max had pointed out. ‘And if she is as intelligent as she seems she will not return, knowing what awaits her.’

  ‘She is already on her way back,’ Max had been told by Count Petronius, who had continued smoothly, ‘I have taken it upon myself to summon her on your behalf.’

  Max had been furious.

  ‘So that she can be threatened into paying her family’s supposed debt of honour?’ he had demanded angrily.

  The Count had shrugged his shoulders. ‘I have told her that the apartment in the palace occupied by her late grandfather must be cleared of his possessions. Since he occupied the apartment for many years she will naturally wish to remove from it those things that may be of value.’

  Max hadn’t been able to conceal his loathing for the Count’s underhanded behaviour.

  ‘You have tricked and trapped her.’

  ‘It is your own fate you should be considering, not hers,’ the Count had pointed out. ‘The people will not tolerate being shamed by a ruler who allows his wife to cuckold him. They will expect you to demand a blood payment.’

  And if I do not? Max had wanted to demand. But he had known the answer.

  ‘We live in troubled times,’ the Count had told him. ‘There are those on the mainland who look at this island and covet it for their own reasons. If the islanders were to rise up against you because they felt you had let them down then such people would be pleased. They would be quick to seize the advantage you will have given them.’

  Max had frowned. The Count might have spoken theatrically, but Max knew that there was indeed a cadre of very very rich and unscrupulous businessmen who would like very much indeed to take over the island and use it for their own purposes. The island was rich in minerals, and it would be a perfect tax haven. And so much more than that. With its natural scenic beauty—its snow in winter on the high ridge of its mountains, and its sea facing beaches that basked in summer sunshine—it would make a perfect tourist destination, providing year-round enjoyment.

 

    Woman To Wed? Read onlineWoman To Wed?Wanting Read onlineWantingThe Trusting Game (Presents Plus) Read onlineThe Trusting Game (Presents Plus)Too Wise To Wed? Read onlineToo Wise To Wed?Time for Trust Read onlineTime for TrustOut 0f The Night (HQR Presents) Read onlineOut 0f The Night (HQR Presents)Dangerous Interloper (Lessons Learned II Book 8; HQR Presents Classic) Read onlineDangerous Interloper (Lessons Learned II Book 8; HQR Presents Classic)Best Man To Wed? Read onlineBest Man To Wed?They're Wed Again Read onlineThey're Wed AgainOut of the Night Read onlineOut of the NightAn Innocent's Surrender Read onlineAn Innocent's SurrenderMarriage: To Claim His Twins Read onlineMarriage: To Claim His TwinsDeal With the Devil--3 Book Box Set Read onlineDeal With the Devil--3 Book Box SetMatter of Trust Read onlineMatter of TrustVacation with a Commanding Stranger Read onlineVacation with a Commanding StrangerA Savage Adoration Read onlineA Savage AdorationThe Mistress Purchase Read onlineThe Mistress PurchaseReclaimed by the Ruthless Tycoon Read onlineReclaimed by the Ruthless TycoonThe Tycoon's Forbidden Temptation Read onlineThe Tycoon's Forbidden TemptationSinful Nights: The Six-Month MarriageInjured InnocentLoving Read onlineSinful Nights: The Six-Month MarriageInjured InnocentLovingBedding His Virgin Mistress Read onlineBedding His Virgin MistressEscape from Desire Read onlineEscape from DesireClaiming His Shock Heir Read onlineClaiming His Shock HeirStronger than Yearning Read onlineStronger than YearningReturn of the Forbidden Tycoon Read onlineReturn of the Forbidden TycoonMission: Make-Over Read onlineMission: Make-OverThe Garnett Marriage Pact Read onlineThe Garnett Marriage PactWanting His Child Read onlineWanting His ChildA Little Seduction Omnibus Read onlineA Little Seduction OmnibusThe City-Girl Bride Read onlineThe City-Girl BrideCraving Her Boss's Touch Read onlineCraving Her Boss's TouchStarting Over Read onlineStarting OverPhantom Marriage Read onlinePhantom MarriageThe Italian Duke's Virgin Mistress Read onlineThe Italian Duke's Virgin MistressOne Night in His Arms Read onlineOne Night in His ArmsForce of Feeling Read onlineForce of FeelingForbidden Loving Read onlineForbidden LovingFor Better for Worse Read onlineFor Better for WorseSilver Read onlineSilverRival Attractions & Innocent Secretary...Accidentally Pregnant Read onlineRival Attractions & Innocent Secretary...Accidentally PregnantA Bride for His Majesty s Pleasure Read onlineA Bride for His Majesty s PleasureDesire's Captive Read onlineDesire's CaptiveForgotten Passion Read onlineForgotten PassionTaken Over Read onlineTaken OverTaken by the Sheikh Read onlineTaken by the SheikhSicilian Nights Omnibus Read onlineSicilian Nights OmnibusDarker Side Of Desire Read onlineDarker Side Of DesireA Royal Bride at the Sheikh s Command Read onlineA Royal Bride at the Sheikh s CommandThe Ultimate Surrender Read onlineThe Ultimate SurrenderA Reason for Being Read onlineA Reason for BeingA Cure for Love Read onlineA Cure for LoveBought with His Name & the Sicilian's Bought Bride Read onlineBought with His Name & the Sicilian's Bought BrideMarriage Make-Up & an Heir to Bind Them Read onlineMarriage Make-Up & an Heir to Bind ThemBitter Betrayal Read onlineBitter BetrayalCaptive At The Sicilian Billionaire’s Command Read onlineCaptive At The Sicilian Billionaire’s CommandValentine's Night Read onlineValentine's NightThe Convenient Lorimer Wife Read onlineThe Convenient Lorimer WifeReawakened by His Touch Read onlineReawakened by His TouchSubstitute Lover Read onlineSubstitute LoverPassionate Protection Read onlinePassionate ProtectionThe Hidden Years Read onlineThe Hidden YearsSo Close and No Closer Read onlineSo Close and No CloserPassion and the Prince Read onlinePassion and the PrinceVirgin for the Billionaire's Taking Read onlineVirgin for the Billionaire's TakingCruel Legacy Read onlineCruel LegacyPayment in Love Read onlinePayment in LoveThe Wealthy Greek's Contract Wife Read onlineThe Wealthy Greek's Contract WifePenny Jordan Collection: Just One Night Read onlinePenny Jordan Collection: Just One NightPermission to Love Read onlinePermission to LoveBeyond Compare Read onlineBeyond CompareWhen the Magnate Meets His Match Read onlineWhen the Magnate Meets His MatchA Time to Dream Read onlineA Time to DreamChristmas Nights Read onlineChristmas NightsChristmas with Her Billionaire Boss Read onlineChristmas with Her Billionaire BossThe Sheikh's Baby Omnibus Read onlineThe Sheikh's Baby OmnibusThe Tycoon's Virgin Read onlineThe Tycoon's VirginFalcon's Prey Read onlineFalcon's PreyMistress Of Convenience Read onlineMistress Of ConvenienceThe Perfect Father Read onlineThe Perfect FatherStranger from the Past & Proof of Their Sin Read onlineStranger from the Past & Proof of Their SinA Little Revenge Omnibus Read onlineA Little Revenge OmnibusLoving Read onlineLovingLesson to Learn Read onlineLesson to LearnSecond Chance with the Millionaire Read onlineSecond Chance with the MillionairePayment Due Read onlinePayment DueA Secret Disgrace Read onlineA Secret DisgraceConveniently His Omnibus Read onlineConveniently His OmnibusAn Unforgettable Man Read onlineAn Unforgettable ManThe Tycoon She Shouldn't Crave Read onlineThe Tycoon She Shouldn't CravePride & Consequence Omnibus Read onlinePride & Consequence OmnibusThe Dutiful Wife Read onlineThe Dutiful WifeBought With His Name Read onlineBought With His NameThe Friendship Barrier Read onlineThe Friendship BarrierHigh Society Read onlineHigh SocietyThe Price of Royal Duty Read onlineThe Price of Royal DutyA Scandalous Inheritance Read onlineA Scandalous InheritanceAt His Convenience Bundle Read onlineAt His Convenience BundleThe Blackmail Baby Read onlineThe Blackmail BabyPrince of the Desert Read onlinePrince of the DesertA Sudden Engagement & the Sicilian's Surprise Wife Read onlineA Sudden Engagement & the Sicilian's Surprise WifeUnexpected Pleasures Read onlineUnexpected PleasuresLevelling the Score Read onlineLevelling the ScoreSavage Atonement Read onlineSavage AtonementDangerous Interloper Read onlineDangerous InterloperA Passionate Awakening Read onlineA Passionate AwakeningRuthless Passion Read onlineRuthless PassionTime Fuse Read onlineTime FusePast Passion Read onlinePast PassionHer One and Only Read onlineHer One and OnlyThe Innocent's Secret Temptation Read onlineThe Innocent's Secret TemptationA Stormy Spanish Summer Read onlineA Stormy Spanish SummerThe Marriage Demand Read onlineThe Marriage DemandFuture King's Pregnant Mistress Read onlineFuture King's Pregnant MistressUnwanted Wedding Read onlineUnwanted WeddingGiselle's Choice Read onlineGiselle's ChoiceNow or Never Read onlineNow or NeverBlackmailed by the Vengeful Tycoon Read onlineBlackmailed by the Vengeful TycoonLovers Touch Read onlineLovers TouchScandalous Seductions Read onlineScandalous SeductionsThe Power of Vasilii Read onlineThe Power of VasiliiPossessed by the Sheikh Read onlinePossessed by the SheikhIt Happened At Christmas (Anthology) Read onlineIt Happened At Christmas (Anthology)The Perfect Lover Read onlineThe Perfect LoverThe Flawed Marriage Read onlineThe Flawed MarriageThe Greek's Runaway Bride Read onlineThe Greek's Runaway BrideAn Unbroken Marriage Read onlineAn Unbroken MarriageHired by the Playboy Read onlineHired by the PlayboyThe Blackmail Marriage Read onlineThe Blackmail MarriageDaughter of Hassan Read onlineDaughter of HassanCampaign For Loving Read onlineCampaign For LovingThe Boss's Marriage Arrangement Read onlineThe Boss's Marriage ArrangementSeduced by the Powerful Boss Read onlineSeduced by the Powerful BossMarriage Without Love & More Than a Convenient Marriage? Read onlineMarriage Without Love & More Than a Convenient Marriage?Bride in Name Only Read onlineBride in Name OnlyHer Shock Pregnancy Secret Read onlineHer Shock Pregnancy SecretPropositioned in Paradise Read onlinePropositioned in ParadiseThe Only One Read onlineThe Only OneThe Sicilian s Baby Bargain Read onlineThe Sicilian s Baby BargainThe Trusting Game Read onlineThe Trusting GameThe Most Coveted Prize Read onlineThe Most Coveted PrizeOne-Click Buy: September Harlequin Presents Read onlineOne-Click Buy: September Harlequin PresentsIn Her Enemy's Bed Read onlineIn Her Enemy's BedAn Expert Teacher Read onlineAn Expert TeacherA Rekindled Passion Read onlineA Rekindled PassionThe Reluctant Surrender Read onlineThe Reluctant SurrenderShadow Marriage Read onlineShadow MarriageA Scandalous Innocent Read onlineA Scandalous InnocentForbidden Kisses with the Boss Read onlineForbidden Kisses with the BossBound Together by a Baby Read onlineBound Together by a BabySecond-Best Husband Read onlineSecond-Best HusbandResponse Read onlineResponseHis Untouched Bride Read onlineHis Untouched BrideA Kind of Madness Read onlineA Kind of MadnessPast Loving Read onlinePast LovingHis Blackmail Marriage Bargain Read onlineHis Blackmail Marriage BargainFor One Night Read onlineFor One NightLegally His Omnibus Read onlineLegally His OmnibusBack in the Marriage Bed Read onlineBack in the Marriage BedMan-Hater Read onlineMan-Hater