Shy Queen In The Royal Spotlight (Once Upon a Temptation, Book 3)
Page 18
She shook her head. ‘My plan was vague but portable.’ Her heart pounded and to her amazement tears formed, bathing her eyeballs in hot acid that spilled before she could speak any more.
Alek’s eyes widened. ‘Hester?’
She nodded quickly. ‘I’m fine.’ All the emotion clogged her throat so she could only whisper. ‘I’m better than fine. You know...’
He still frowned but a small smile curved his mouth and his hold on her tightened. The contact strengthened her. She trusted him completely—knew she could expose herself, reveal her greatest vulnerability—because he always caught her. He always listened. He cared.
‘I’m pregnant,’ she blurted.
He stared, frozen for eternity before his expression exploded with intensity. ‘Say it again.’
‘We’re having a baby.’
Because this was them, together, and their little unit of two was going to become three.
A huge rush of air hissed from his lungs and she felt the impact as relief and joy and incredulity radiated from him.
‘It’s been hideous keeping it from you these last couple of days.’ She lifted her hands to frame his beloved face. ‘But I wanted to save it just long enough to tell you today.’ She rose on tiptoe and pressed her tear-stained mouth to his.
They’d decided to delay trying for a little while after their wedding so they could discover and delight in each other and solidify the intense connection they’d forged so quickly. But a few months ago they’d discarded any contraception. And now? Now her joy was so fierce, it burgeoned, encompassing him too.
‘Not going to lie—I’m terrified. But I can’t wait, Hester.’
He pressed her to him and she felt his strong muscles shaking.
‘We can still make love? Is it safe—?’
‘There’ll only be danger if we don’t!’ She laughed and growled at the same time. ‘I need to have my way with you, my King.’
‘Well, you are my Queen and I will always bow before you.’ He didn’t just bow, he dropped to his knees, his hands firm on her hips as he gazed up the length of her still-slim body. ‘I can’t wait to meet our child, Hester.’
‘Neither can I.’ She dropped to her knees too—desperate to feel again the pleasure that was only theirs.
With him she was free and utterly unafraid to reveal everything—her body, her soul, her secrets—all the things that scared her, all the things that delighted her. He didn’t just accept them, he embraced them, and he shared his own so together they were stronger still.
‘Alek...’ she breathed, enraptured by the fantasy world into which he’d cast her.
‘I’m here, Hester.’
And he was.
Because beneath it all—the crowns, the diamonds, the palaces and castles...everything—their love was real.
Coming next month
REVELATIONS OF HIS RUNAWAY BRIDE
Kali Anthony
‘This marriage is a sham.’
In some ways, he agreed with her. Yet here he stood, with a gold wedding band prickling on his finger. Thea still held her rings. He needed her to put them on. If she did, he’d won—for tonight.
‘You’re asking me to return you to the tender care of your father?’ A man Christo suspected didn’t have a sentimental, loving bone in his body.
Thea grabbed the back of a spindly chair, clutching it till her fingers blanched. ‘I’m asking you to let me go.’
‘No.’
Christo had heard whispers about Tito Lambros. He was reported to be cruel and vindictive. The bitter burn of loathing coursed like poison through his veins. That his father’s negligence had allowed such a man to hold Christo’s future in his hands…
There was a great deal he needed to learn about Thea’s family—some of which he might be able to use. But that could wait. Now it was time to give her something to cling to. Hope.
‘You’ll come with me as my wife and we’ll discuss the situation in which we find ourselves. That’s my promise. But we’re leaving now.’
She looked down at her clothes and back at him. Her liquid amber eyes glowed in the soft lights. ‘I can’t go dressed like this!’
No more delays. She glanced at the door again. He didn’t want a scene. Her tantrums could occur at his home, where any witnesses would be paid to hold their silence.
‘You look perfect,’ he said, waving his hand in her direction. ‘It shows a flair for the dramatic—which you’ve proved to have in abundance tonight. Our exit will be unforgettable.’
She seemed to compose herself. Thrust her chin high, all glorious defiance. ‘But my hat… I told everyone about it. I can’t disappoint them.’
‘Life’s full of disappointments. Tell them it wouldn’t fit over your magnificent hair.’
Thea’s lips twitched in a barely suppressed sneer, her eyes narrow and glacial. The look she threw him would have slayed a mere mortal. Luckily for the most part he felt barely human.
‘Rings,’ he said.
She jammed them carelessly on her finger. Victory. He held out the crook of his arm and she hesitated before slipping hers through it. All stiff and severe. But her body still fitted into his in a way which enticed him. Caused his heart to thrum, his blood to roar. Strange. Intoxicating. All Thea.
‘Now, smile,’ he said.
She plastered on a mocking grimace.
He leaned down and whispered in her ear. ‘Like you mean it, koukla mou.’
‘I’ll smile when you say that like you mean it, Christo.’
And he laughed.
This second laugh was more practised. More familiar—like an old memory. But the warmth growing in his chest was real. Beyond all expectations, he was enjoying her. For his sanity, perhaps a little too much…
Continue reading
REVELATIONS OF HIS RUNAWAY BRIDE
Kali Anthony
Available next month
Copyright ©2020 by Kali Anthony
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