Read Online The Prince Who Loved Me (The Oxenburg Princes) by Karen Hawkins - Free Book Online Page B

She was a rather faded-looking woman with pale skin and watery blue eyes, her red hair the only colorful thing about her. “That’s Miss MacGregor,” Strath confided in a low voice. “The things she can do with that mouth . . . Lovely! I would dance with her, but I fear she might fall desperately in love with me. Women meet me and instantly offer their hearts. It’s a burden I bear.”
    “How difficult for you,” Alexsey said drily. “I prefer it when there are no hearts involved, only willing bodies.”
    Strath chuckled. “According to what your grandmother has told my uncle, that is the Romany way.”
    “My grandmother also thinks her potions can turn princes into frogs.”
    Strath’s smile faded. “Frogs? Are you teasing?”
    “Sadly, no.” Alexsey swirled the remaining scotch in his glass. “Your Miss MacGregor has left her partner and is now trying to make her way through the crowd toward us.”
    Strath brightened as he put down his glass and smoothed his coat. “Is she, indeed? I must answer the call, then. If you’ll excuse me?”
    “Of course. After I finish tasting your whiskey, I believe I will retire to my room.”
    Strath blinked. “But . . . you’re the guest of honor! My uncle will not be happy if you retire too soon.”
    Alexsey hid a grimace. There were times when being a prince was onerous. The second people knew it, they instantly assumed certain things. If they were parents of an eligible maiden, they assumed he possessed a wealth that few princes could. If they happened to be eligible young women, they assumed a romantic bent to his character usually involving white horses and flowing red capes, neither of which he possessed. And if they were hosts or hostesses, they believed he not only enjoyed being their guest of honor, but would be offended if they did not make him so. “I dislike being a guest of honor.”
    “But sadly, you’re a prince, and as a prince . . .” Strath shrugged.
    “I will stay until midnight but no more. I was up with the birds this morning. I visited the place I met my maid, thinking perhaps she would be there at an earlier hour.”
    “I take it she was not. She seems oddly determined not to be found. As much as it may hurt you to hear this, I can’t help but think perhaps you should find someone else to amuse you. But who?” As he spoke, Strath rose on his tiptoes, looking over the crowd to check Miss MacGregor’s progress.
    “None of these women interests me.”
    “Then you have not looked hard enough. All women are beautiful, you know.” He frowned. “Blast it, Miss MacGregor has been waylaid by Lord Dunn. I shall have to wait for her to break free.”
    “She will arrive anon. And I must disagree with your belief that all women are beautiful.” Alexsey looked about the ballroom. “What about her?” He nodded toward a small, rather wispy-looking female with mousy brown hair and a receding chin.
    Strath eyed her for a moment, and then said, “Her skin is like cream. She would glow by candlelight. Her figure is lovely, too. Lying down, you’d never notice she’s a bit short. Spread across a coverlet, her hair about her, candlelight caressing her creamy skin—you would not be able to keep your hands to yourself.”
    “Hmm.” He inclined his head toward another woman, a rail-thin blonde with an overly large nose. “And her?”
    “That hair, unbound, would reach her waist. I’d wager my last groat it’s soft as silk and would brush over your bare skin until you were eager for her touch. And note, too, her mouth. It’s wide, passionate, and as warm as—” Strath sighed. “You can see her beauty now, eh?”
    “Indeed. An intriguing way to view the world, my friend.”
    “Sadly, I am not a handsome man. I’m neither tall nor dashing. My title is negligible and I have no fortune to speak of. So how can I expect perfection when I have so little to offer myself?”
    “What of the truly beautiful women? The one society deems to be