The Bachelor Prince
Page 17
Laughing, he released her mouth. Desire colored his eyes. She knew that look. Bedroom eyes—needy and urgent. It matched the way she felt right now. She wanted her husband, but they had a reception to get through first. Then he would be all hers.
The next few hours were a hectic wave of meet and greet and, while at times it was overwhelming, Lucas never left her side, offering encouragement at each turn—a tiny squeeze of her elbow, a kiss. Another kiss.
“Very nice,” she said as he dotted a kiss at the nape of her neck.
“Hoped you’d say that.”
Within minutes, they had begun to say their good-byes, but as they were about to leave, Princess Marina rushed up.
“You can’t go yet. You haven’t thrown your bouquet.”
Cassie looked to Lucas and offered him an amused shrug. “I suppose I have to follow tradition.”
“Just don’t take too long.” He wrapped her in an embrace, whispering in her ear, “Not sure I can wait much longer before I feel your body beneath mine, sweetheart.”
Cassie looked behind her new sister-in-law and the waiting gaggle of single women. Her bridesmaid, Stella, whom she’d met years ago on a holiday back in New Zealand, stood to one side with her brother, Jonas Wilder. He was a ruggedly good-looking man, quiet and moody. Stella said he did something with horses. Jonas’s gaze, however, wasn’t fixed on her or Lucas, but on Marina.
Cassie knew that look—had seen it in Lucas’s eyes when he rested his gaze on her. Jonas may be one woman’s dream, but he wasn’t hers. Dismissing the good-looking Kiwi, she shifted her attention to her husband. No one could eclipse Lucas in her eyes. Never had. Never, ever would.
With her back to the waiting women, she offered her husband a wink. “Not long now.”
“I’m counting on it.”
She lifted the bouquet skyward and, with flick of her wrists, tossed it behind her. Excited squeals burst anew and she spun round to see who had her flowers.
Marina’s face flushed scarlet as she lifted the bouquet to her nose and inhaled the heady scent of the lilies and roses. Her gaze, however, belonged to Jonas Wilder.
“So that’s how it is.” Cassie smiled at her sister-in-law.
Lucas bent his head to hers. “How what is?”
“Your sister has her eyes set on her future husband already.”
Lucas pulled her into the curve of his body, his arousal blatantly obvious. “Well, he’ll have a hard time taming her.”
“Not so hard,” she said, reaching to draw him closer. “I managed to tame you.”
About the Author
Multi-published author Jane Beckenham lives in a tiny slice of paradise just north of Auckland, New Zealand. From her office, she can watch the tuis and fantails flit about, along with families of pukeko and quails, and a pair of lorikeets have taken up residence.
Along with the menagerie of bird life are Jane’s husband of thirty years and two daughters, and her beloved dog, Bingo.
For the last ten years, Jane has sat in her office every day, writing stories of hope and dreams that bring a smile to her face and hopefully her readers too. Romance, love and honor are the words in Jane’s tag line, and words she believes are the centre of all her romances.
Jane’s love of reading began as a child when she spent years in hospital. Those days inspired her dreams, which over the years have become a crucial part of her life. Dreaming of being able to walk again, then dreaming of her own happy after, and dreaming of becoming a mother, and subsequently adopting her daughters from Russia.
Come and dream a little while with Jane.
Visit Jane’s web site www.janebeckenham.com
Email neiljane@ihug.co.nz
Twitter @JaneBeckenham
Facebook www.facebookcom/JaneBeckenham
Look for these titles by Jane Beckenham
Now Available:
He’s the One
Secrets and Seduction
Romeo for Hire
The only emotion Leah Grainger can muster when thinking of her dead husband is relief. Until she learns his gambling debt threatens her beloved farm and the child she wanted to protect from the rootless existence she grew up with.
The last straw? Her husband’s brother demands a meeting. When she charges into his office to tell him she won’t let another Grainger screw up her life, the startlingly handsome, former oil rig wildcatter goes for the jugular. He’s claimed legal guardianship of her daughter, bought her mortgage…and he’s moving in.
The final email Mac received from his suicidal brother blamed Leah for everything. If it’s the last thing he does, he plans to protect his niece. Even if it means using his millions to gain the upper hand. And hardening his heart against the beautiful Leah’s protests of innocence.
Yet something seems off. Leah is nothing like the uncaring woman his brother described. She’s warm, loving…and when a new threat to her child surfaces and she reaches out to him in need, his body won’t let him say no. Even when her last secret forces him to make a decision that exposes his most closely guarded possession. His heart.
Warning: Contains tug-your-heart love, raise-the-roof lust, a marriage of convenience and hot sex that will give a whole new meaning to the word “wildcatter.”
Taylor Sullivan doesn’t trust Cupid, but she plays one for a living. As a successful wedding consultant, she creates a couple’s ultimate fantasy—even though she’s never managed to create her own. And when her clients start asking her for wedding night advice, she’s sensible enough to know when to enlist help.
Cade Harper knows two things about women. They either abandon him, or use him as a walking bank. He doesn’t do commitment, and marriage is a dirty word—witness the string of broken hearts he’s left in his wake. Yet Taylor’s business proposition intrigues him. In exchange for one night of no-strings passion, she’ll develop a promotional plan for his business. Who could say no?
Never one to buy anything sight unseen, Taylor tests the waters with a kiss. In an instant she has the only answer she’s ever wanted—that Cade is the one she wants.
As business starts tumbling into pleasure, Cade finds himself falling hard and fast.
It’s a fantasy come true—if they can turn heartache into forever…
Warning: Contains explicit, straight-to-the-heart sex between a hopeless romantic heroine and an abandon-all-hope hero. No need to dress up for this party—just curl up with a glass of bubbly and a box of tissues!
Workaholic Carly Mason is caught between a rock and a hard place. The rock: an invitation for four days of sun, sand and...well you get the picture...with her friends. And her mystery man. The hard place: Mr. Invisible, who lusts after her with delicious abandon, is a fantasy that doesn’t really exist.
Then she encounters a motorbike-riding Adonis whose image taunts her during the wee small hours. And when fate drops him in her sights the next day, she grabs the opportunity to offer him a job. Pretend to be her Romeo, just for the duration of her getaway.
Exhausted from months negotiating his multi-million dollar company’s expansion, Marco Valente is more than tempted by Carly’s outrageous proposal. If nothing else, it’ll give him a temporary escape from his high profile life—and his mother’s serial bride attitude.
Once on the island, Carly realizes she’s been tricked. She and Marco are the only ones there. Neither has a mobile phone—and the helicopter is disappearing into the distance. For the next four days and nights, it’s just Carly and her hired Romeo. And a growing connection that definitely wasn’t part of the contract…
Warning: Contains two unbelievably stubborn people undergoing serious cell phone withdrawal, and seriously scorching sex on the beach. Not responsible for reader’s failure to apply sunblock before reading.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
The Bachelor Prince
Copyright © 2015 by Jane Beckenham
ISBN: 978-1-61922-718-7
Edited by Linda Ingmanson
Cover by Angela Waters
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: May 2015
www.samhainpublishing.com