The Royal Elite: Mattias Read Online Free PDF

always the hope that Prince Mattias, despite his social standing and position, had a little more knowledge and pluck than the others.
    “I thought it was...extensive,” Mattias replied.
    Alannah breathed a disappointed sigh. That wasn't the answer she hoped for. After all the information she'd shared with him, too.
    “Yes, it's very extensive all right.” She could have elaborated on so many other aspects, but she didn't. Why waste her time when Mattias was clearly one of those men, here for the skirts, the drinks and those secretive shows behind closed doors.
    When he moved to her other side, the slide of his hand low along her back guided her to remain in place. Mattias repositioned himself between her and the door, tucking the fingers of her other hand under his elbow again.
    Alannah wondered at the strange change of places and decided not to ask. Maybe he liked the view down her shirt from that angle better than the other. She tugged at the top, though nothing indecent was showing.
    “Was I supposed to memorize every object?” Mattias asked, as if he could read her mind.
    Alannah twitched in surprise. “What? Of course not.”
    “Then why do you seem disappointed in my answer?”
    “I'm not disa—disappointed. Not at all. I merely wondered what you thought.” Caught off guard by his astuteness, Alannah reconsidered her initial opinion of the Prince as a man wholly distracted by the desire to bed as many women as he could. Feeling his stare, she glanced up again. There was just enough light to make out the knowing gleam in his dark eyes, the disbelieving curve of a smile at the corners of his handsome mouth. Sure enough, the Prince thought she was lying.
    In the ballroom, some distance away, Alannah heard an employee raising his voice to announce that they were working feverishly to resume power. At the same time, thunder shook the walls of the manor, as if the home were a great, chuckling beast.
    “You're not a very good liar, Miss Astbury,” Mattias said.
    “And if I didn't know better, I would say you've taken up a very protective stance between myself and the door,” she said, hoping to distract him. Rewarded with Mattias's gaze seeming to sharpen and narrow, she arched a brow, daring him to refute it.
    “One never knows what dangers lurk in the darkness.”
    “With all the security here, I wouldn't think we need worry about danger,” she countered. Uneasy about his declaration, Alannah held his gaze.
    “You of all people should know better,” he said. His voice carried a chiding tone. “Few places are truly safe for those of our stature.”
    “You do realize that I'm now suspicious of you standing so near.”
    He smirked, which amused Alannah more than it should have. When he tilted his head close to her ear, she caught the heady scent of his cologne and the even headier scent that was purely Mattias.
    “Do you feel I'm a threat to you, Miss Astbury?” he said, voice a crooning whisper.
    A spike of lust shot straight from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. It was the silky timbre of his accent, the way he phrased his words. As if the question were far more carnal than what it appeared on the surface. Bewildered by her reaction to him, she tightened her fingers on his elbow and sought to untangle the knot of words on her tongue.
    “Not in the slightest. You're clearly as harmless as a kitten.” What a lie. Alannah had the distinct impression that Prince Mattias could hold his own in any situation. Even a deadly one. She slanted a look up his cheek to his eyes. There was just enough residual light to see the amused gleam in his gaze.
    “Miss Astbury, allow me to escort you back to your room,” the bodyguard said, interrupting the mesmerizing moment. He closed the distance with quick strides.
    Alannah swore she felt Mattias tense beneath her fingertips when he straightened his posture. Curious thing, that. Did he truly trust no one? She vaguely recalled hearing about trouble in his