“Maybe Fausto’s family is out here looking for him.”
“Why not?” he murmured, willing to humor her.
When they reached the big pine tree, he spread the well-worn blanket on the ground against the trunk and put Fausto down with a pile of food he poured out. “That ought to last him for quite a while.”
She lifted concerned blue eyes to Stefano. “I’m almost afraid to leave him, but I know we have to do this for his sake.”
“He’ll be fine. But if he’s unwilling to leave us, we’ll take him to a wildlife shelter after we get to the city so he’ll survive.”
“That will be the right thing to do.”
“For the time being, let’s stop worrying about him and blaze a new trail. You never know what we might find on our trek today.”
CHAPTER NINE
FOR LANZA IT was enough to be out in nature and bask in a white, sunlit world with Stefano. Her love for him was brimming to the surface. It was the kind of love you never got over.
There was no one like him. Since the moment she’d taken vows with him in the cathedral, she’d felt a stirring that had grown into white-hot heat. Being at his fabulous chalet, perched on a mountain as beautiful as this, was her idea of heaven. She couldn’t help staring at him. Stefano was a gorgeous man. When he smiled, Lanza was left breathless.
At this high altitude she felt light-headed just looking into those dark eyes that seemed to swallow her alive. Last night he’d kissed her into a new realm of existence. Incredible to think she was so happy today when on the morning of her marriage, it had felt like the end of the world.
Being married to him opened her up to a world of intimacy. Every day with Stefano was turning into an adventure. Lanza hadn’t had brothers and had never lived around a man. It made her realize what a sheltered life she’d led as a betrothed royal princess with two sisters and a doting mother. The duties of her father running the country didn’t allow a lot of quality time with him.
Today she was so excited to be alive, she wanted to shout it to the world. But it might set off another avalanche. Being up here she was able to put the princess part of herself away and just be Stefano’s wife and soon...his lover. She was living for that.
He put on his ski goggles and they started off in another direction. She used her ski poles to swoosh herself along. His long, powerful legs meant she had to work harder to keep up, but it was fun. He had great legs.
“Thank you for not taking us to the Caribbean. Being here is a dream vacation for me. Obviously, you never intended to take us there. I love it that no one knows where we are.”
He eyed her through the amber lenses. “I didn’t want to have to fly clear across the world after our marathon wedding day.”
“With all the travel you do, it doesn’t surprise me you would dread a long flight that had nothing to do with business. I was dreading it like the plague.”
She thought she heard a chuckle. “You don’t enjoy a beach vacation?”
“They’re all right, but in my mind you need to be with your soul mate to enjoy a tropical setting.”
“You sound like a true romantic.”
Lanza nodded. “That’s what comes from reading romantic fiction at a very young age.”
“You’re talking Pride and Prejudic
e?”
“One of them.”
“I guess I’m going to have to read it.”
She laughed. “You might like it.”
He slowed his pace. “Did you bring a copy with you?”
“No. While I was preparing for our wedding, I packed that book and others in a box with a few childhood treasures. What about you?”
“My childhood things are still in my bedroom at the palace.”
“I envy you to have been given your freedom for as long as it lasted. To think you had this chalet where you could escape! You’ve been a very lucky man.”