Read Online A Prince's Ransom: Kidnapped by the Billionaire by Ella Slade - Free Book Online Page A

purse onto the loveseat, running her fingers through her hair. At the same time, she stepped out of her heels, flexing her toes gratefully, and plopped down hard onto the edge of the bed. Several pillows bounced free of their careful arrangement as she did, but she just sat there staring at them for a long time. Finally, she fell back across the bed with a groan.
    “Okay, okay… yes, he’s a prince, yes, he’s handsome and charming and ridiculously loaded , and he even made some annoyingly good points earlier,” she mumbled to herself. “But he’s still kidnapping you and basically blackmailing you or coercing you or whatever into marrying him, just so he doesn’t have to deal with some other woman. Just keep reminding yourself of that, Kat, and you’ll get out of this. He can’t keep you here forever if you keep refusing to give in.”
    Even as she said the words, she wasn’t really sure she believed it. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes and silently cursed the fact that the bed was more comfortable than the one at the hotel. Finally, she sat back up and grappled with the zipper of her dress.
    “Going to take a shower now, and get rid of this freaking lady-boner. Assholes like Eric should not be able to give anyone lady-boners,” she grumbled to herself, letting her dress spill sloppily to the floor.
    Her undergarments followed suit, but she stopped absolutely naked in the doorway, staring at the bathroom. It was bigger than her dorm back. The shower, fully made of glass with the largest showerhead she had ever seen in her life, was bigger than her old bed. Everything was made of marble or quartz or something, she wasn’t sure. It didn’t really matter, this was the sort of bathroom seen in movies and stuff.
    “Hoooly crap, what the hell have I gotten myself into here,” she muttered, taking a step in and then stopping when she realized the floor wasn’t cold as she’d expected. Heated flooring, of course. Katherine made herself take a deep breath. “And this is just the freakin’ guest suite. Not the rooms I would have if I was actually princess of a country.” She grimaced, imagining that had been Eric’s intention in making sure she got this room.
    There was a Jacuzzi tub with jets as well, and she considered using it. She really wanted to relax, but she more wanted to collapse into bed. She was just going to stand under the showerhead for a little while and rinse away everything about the Prince’s marriage proposal, if it could even be called that.
    It took a few minutes of fiddling with the shower knows before the water temperature was to her liking, then Katherine gratefully stepped into the warm water as the glass walls started to steam up. Various soaps and shampoos and washing utensils were already in the shower in a little alcove built into the marble, so as she rubbed at her face to wash off her makeup, she glanced over them from the corner of her eye.
    “I had been wondering if you were actually blonde.”
    Katherine’s already tentative grip on one of the bottles slipped, and she yelped as it clattered on the floor before spinning around to stare up at Eric where he watched her through the foggy glass.
    “You would be cute as a brunette, although I suppose I cannot blame you for desiring to go blond. What’s that American saying? ‘Blondes have more fun’?” The Prince’s voice was teasing, but she could only stare at him, absolutely flabbergasted, until she remembered that she was naked.
    “What is it with you and breaking into bathrooms?!” she demanded furiously, wrapping her arms around her breasts and stepping away from the door. “Seriously, there’s no way you didn’t hear the shower running, but you just waltzed in anyway?” And her clothes were all over the floor in the other room. Of course he knew she was naked.
    “I came to make sure you were settling in well,” he answered nonchalantly, with a smile tugging at the side of his mouth.
    “I’ve