by Melody Anne
“She carries my children,” Adriane thundered back.
Rafe sank back at Adriane’s words before he turned his head in Rachel’s direction.
“Children?” he asked.
“I’m having twins,” she admitted, as a smile turned up the corners of her lips and she fought back tears. Finally, she was telling Rafe something firsthand. Well, sort of, since Adriane had been the one to blurt out the word children. She was glad that her brother was sitting down.
Rafe was stunned speechless, something she’d never seen before. It was almost enough to make her giggle — almost, but not quite. Not with the amount of tension in the room.
“Are you happy, Rach?”
Was she happy? No. There was too much pressure weighing down on her right now. But she was glad to be carrying her twins. She felt protective, felt like a mother. She was looking forward to meeting them. By then, she would have a clear plan of what she wanted to do.
“I’m not unhappy, Rafe. I already love these tiny babies growing inside me.”
“I think you need to just come home with me. You need your family right now,” he advised her.
Rachel saw Adriane tense at those words. It was obvious he wasn’t going to allow that to happen without one hell of a fight. Would the battle be worth it? Rafe could get hurt or even killed trying to protect her. Then, she would never forgive the father of her children.
“I will come home soon, Rafe. I promise you. I want to spend time with mother, and I need my sister and best friend. Oh, my gosh!” she exclaimed as her eyes widened.
“What?” he asked, tensing with concern.
“I have been so wrapped up in myself this week, I haven’t even thought of poor Ari and the wedding. Adriane told me the wedding was put off because of this situation. I’m so incredibly sorry, Rafe. That shouldn’t have happened. How is she doing? Are you both OK?” she asked as she stepped up to him.
“We are both fine. I want to make her my bride as soon as possible, but she won’t go through with it without you. That’s just another reason for you to come home with me,” he said.
“Oh, Rafe.” Talk about feeling torn.
As if Adriane understood her indecision, he popped in with a proposal.
“We will hold the wedding here. It would be my honor to host it in the royal cathedral.”
Both Rafe and Rachel turned toward Adriane, who was looking quite pleased with himself for finding an adequate solution to the problem.
“Your family can all be guests here at the palace,” Adriane continued. “Then Rachel can also visit with her mother. I am quite certain our mothers will get along remarkably well. They will probably drive the staff crazy,” he said with a fond smile. It was obvious his mother had a special place in his heart. That was something that was certainly in his favor.
“Having the wedding here would be too much trouble for everyone here,” Rachel said, but she really liked the idea. She would have those she loved here, and at the same time, she’d have even more time with Adriane. It would help her discover whether she could comfortably leave her children with him for holidays or summer breaks. After all, if he wanted to be a dad, she would be in the wrong to deny him those rights, as painful as not having her children around during those times would be.
“Of course we can. I am the king and can do as I wish,” he said with a wink.
“Could we, Rafe?” Rachel asked, turning to her brother, her eyes lit with excitement at the thought. It would be quite romantic, in her opinion, to see a wedding on the palace grounds.
“I would have to talk to Ari,” he said hesitantly, annoyed that he was being backed into a corner.
“Oh, you don’t have to wait. I’ll call her right now,” she said, but her eyes narrowed as she turned to Adriane. “I can call her, right?” she asked with a clear threat in her tone.
“Of course. Be my guest,” he said as he gestured grandly toward an antique writing desk.
Rachel marched over to the phone and picked it up, dialing the number and expecting to get the operator. When the call went straight through, she sent another withering glare Adriane’s way. Did the man have a timer set for when the calls could go through and when they couldn’t?
That would be another discussion the two of them would have.
Ari was thrilled at the idea of a royal palace wedding, and the two girls laughed as they reconnected. Then Ari insisted on talking to Rafe so she could get the transportation arranged.
By the time Rafe got off the phone, it was obvious that he was going to do what Ari and Rachel wanted.
“It looks like we will have our wedding here. How quickly can it be arranged?” he asked.
“As soon as your family arrives, the women can speak to the palace coordinator. It could be arranged in less than a week if you’d like,” Adriane said, relaxed now in complete satisfaction because he’d managed to get what he wanted.
“Good. We’ll come back to the discussion of my sister leaving when this is all over.”
“I look forward to it,” Adriane said.
Challenge issued — challenge accepted.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“If sex could be bottled, labeled and sold, Shane’s picture would be the image on the glass.” Lia was watching him emerge from the ocean and fling back his head, his dark strands gleaming as the droplets of cool ocean water soared toward the sky.
That was just the beginning. With his shorts hanging low on his hips, showing that appealing line of hair disappearing beneath the dark blue fabric, and water trickling to areas her fingers had stroked before — hell, more than her fingers — she was quickly becoming a puddle of lust.
He had to be doing it on purpose.
Damn the man.
“You just took the words from my mouth,” Ari said as she fanned her face, though when Lia looked over at her in surprise, she had to smile because Ari’s eyes were nowhere near Shane. They were glued to Rafe, who was currently riding a wave on a surfboard.
“Yuck. Quit drooling over my brother,” Lia teased.
“Not gonna happen,” Ari said with a grin as she managed to tug her gaze back to her friend. “This place is pure heaven. No wonder you’re in no hurry to leave, Rachel.”
“I didn’t say that,” Rachel replied. “I just said that I’m going to get to know Adriane. It’s the responsible thing to do.” Her gaze took in the king of Corythia as he ran down the beach and dived smoothly into the water, his back muscles flexing. “But the view isn’t half bad,” she admitted with a frustrated sigh.
“Why don’t you just get it over with and screw his brains out?” Lia asked with a giggle before she picked up her coconut cocktail and leaned back, taking a long sip.
“Because that’s not what this is about,” Rachel said, though she didn’t even sound convincing to herself.
The last few days, Adriane had upped the ante, so to speak. He’d been charming, and sweet, and his mother was amazing. Rachel was very grateful her family had arrived. Her resolve was wavering, and nothing good could come from her joining Adriane in his giant bed. A lot of pleasure — but nothing good.
That didn’t even make sense to her, so she decided not to analyze it.
The women were all silent as their eyes once again strayed to their men, whether they claimed them or not.
Lia hadn’t said a word to Shane since he’d arrived a few hours before. She could see the stress behind his eyes, but before she’d worked up the courage to ask him about it, he’d given her a cocky smile, leaned down and kissed her hard, then run off.
Now, he was prancing in front of her on the beach, half naked, and he didn’t seem to have a care in the world. She must have imagined the haunted look. The man obviously didn’t have a soul, so what could possibly be haunting him, anyway?
The guards, ever present wherever King Adriane might be, were a bit of a distraction, and they had to be overheated in their full gear, but Lia brushed it off. She was sitting at the beach on a wonderful day and she
wasn’t going to let anything ruin this.
Lia didn’t know how long the silence among the three females stretched on, but she was rudely interrupted by a soft towel smacking her in the face.
“What the hell?” she muttered as she grabbed the white towel and turned to see who’d been so rude.
“I just thought you’d want to wipe the drool from your face. You’re overheating like a dog in some serious need of water. Do you want us to carry you out to the water to cool you down?” Rachel asked with a laugh.
“I was not drooling!” Lia said, but she couldn’t help but join in the laughter. Maybe she had been salivating just a little. Once you’d slept with a man as appealing as Shane, it was impossible not to picture lying beneath him when he was bouncing around in front of her with nothing on but a pair of low-riding shorts.
Was it terrible of her to wish for a sneaker wave to pull those shorts right off him?
Maybe. But she didn’t even care. His ass was solid and fine, and she wouldn’t mind another glimpse. Maybe she should just give in to what her body wanted and have one more hot night with him.
No!
If she didn’t have feelings for the man, then that might have been possible, but as it was, she felt far too much for her sexy ex and she still hadn’t come up with any answers. Sleeping with him before she did would just break her heart all the more when he ended up leaving her again. If she decided she could handle that kind of fallout, then they’d stay in bed for a week together.
Maybe she should come to the decision that she could handle it.
“It’s just very humid here,” Lia finally said, knowing the two girls weren’t going to believe her for a minute.
“That’s OK, Lia. Your brother gets me all hot and bothered to the point that I can’t even breathe when he looks like he does now. I can’t believe we’re going to be married in just a few more days,” she said, her eyes following Rafe as he fell from the board, splashing into the water.
“Seriously, I know you’re in love and all, but it’s a bit disturbing to hear my brother talked about that way,” Rachel said, grimacing. “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind him being looked at like a sex object. I mean, how many guys do the same with our gender? It’s just being forced to picture my own brother as a sex object that I object to. I don’t want to hear about him and sex in the same sentence. I’ve avoided all magazine articles about him for that very reason.”
“Mmm, your king is a close second,” Ari said as she looked over to where Rafe and Adriane were paddling out side by side.
They weren’t smiling.
Both men were still at odds, but it had to get better eventually. Neither of them would cry uncle, so it was a macho-man contest now to see who could ride the biggest wave for the longest amount of time.
“I hope they both face-plant,” Rachel muttered as the men lifted up on their boards and began riding the wave toward the beach.
“Me too,” Lia said just for the heck of it.
“You two are terrible,” Ari said, but her eyes never strayed from Rafe.
“You’re just sickeningly in love,” Rachel grumbled.
“You could be too, Rachel. That man’s eyes stray to you about every five seconds, which is why he just belly-flopped. It’s kind of amusing, actually. Look at the guards. They don’t like this one bit. They keep edging closer and closer to the water,” Ari said with a giggle.
Just then a wave came up and soaked one of the guard’s pristine black shoes and the bottom of his trousers, making the man jump back. Ari was impressed that his face never showed his discomfort. As he stood there, he had to be miserable with the heat and now soaked oxfords. He should have just taken them off, but she knew he wouldn’t.
“So you’re not even considering going for it with the king?” Ari asked. “Come on. You were practically panting like a dog in heat when you talked about your weeklong affair. The man wants to marry you. Why not just give it a chance?”
“No. It would never work out. We’re too different. Besides, if I married him, I’d be queen. It’s not something I’ve really processed, but I do know that I don’t even have my own life figured out, let alone know how to rule a country.”
“It’s probably not that bad. Don’t you just wave a lot for the cameras? How hard could it be?” Ari asked.
“From what I’ve learned, there’s a lot more than smiling and cutting ribbons,” Rachel replied. “You’re on charity boards, and you help organize fundraisers. People come to you and expect answers. I wouldn’t know what to say or what to do. What if I did something that ended up leaving the people of Corythia scandalized forever? What if I embarrassed my children as they got older?” When Ari and Lia laughed, Rachel said, “OK, I’ll most likely do that anyway, but I hope not on camera in front of the entire world. Anyway, no. I can’t marry him. Besides, I won’t marry for anything less than love. I’ve always felt that way.”
“Isn’t it possible that you will fall in love?” Lia asked, her eyes drooping a little as she spoke the words.
“Yes. I could fall in love, could give my heart to this man. That’s the biggest problem of all. He has told me he won’t fall in love. It’s about duty and honor and the heir to the throne. None of it’s about me,” Rachel replied. Her voice was thick with melancholy.
“Aww, Rachel. He’d be a fool not to fall in love with you,” Ari said, and she wrapped her arm around her friend’s shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze.
“Well, you are agreeing to stay here and get to know him. That says something,” Lia reminded her.
“Yes, that says that I want to know the father of my children. I don’t want to tell them that I had a seven-day affair and then never saw him again. We have great parents, Lia. I think Adriane and I can be great parents, too. We just have to get past the bickering. He’s agreed to quit talking about marriage, at least for now, but he seems to slip a little too often.”
“I can’t imagine that he’s a man who’s easily swayed. Maybe he’s just trying to appease you for now. We could always sneak you out of here at a moment’s notice. All you have to do is ask,” said Lia.
“I know. You have no idea how much I appreciate that,” Rachel replied. “I love you both so much.”
“Well, Mom will be here in a couple of days and I dare the king to tell her no. If you want to leave, nothing in this universe will stop her from bringing you home,” Lia said.
“True. I may just have to keep her here until I’m ready to go. She’s quite protective,” Rachel said. She felt better just sitting there with her sister and friend and knowing her mom would be there soon. There was so much she needed to talk to all of them about.
“Yes, but be prepared for the lecture of a lifetime for not telling her about the pregnancy sooner. She was devastated to find out secondhand that you were carrying her first grandchild,” Lia warned.
“I feel so bad about that — like a terrible daughter. I should have trusted Mom.”
“She is pretty excited about it, even if she had hoped you’d be married to a wonderful man and settled down first. When she finds out you’re having twins, she’s going to be over the moon. I want to be there when you tell her. It’s taken every ounce of control I have not to spill the beans over the phone,” Lia said.
“Thanks for waiting, sis. I want to see her reaction. I do have to admit that I was grateful to miss the initial reaction, though. She must have turned white as a ghost.”
“That about describes it,” Ari said.
“I am really sorry about the wedding, Ari.”
“You have apologized ten thousand times now for something that was beyond your control. Please stop, because you’re making me feel bad about it. Everything worked out perfectly anyway. Now, I get to marry in a royal cathedral, just like a princess,” Ari said.
“Everything happens for a reason. This will be the best wedding day ever,” Rachel promised.
“I have no doubt about it.”
Just then, all three men
stepped from the water, walking up the beach together.
All conversation stopped as the girls watched the show almost in slow motion: water dripping down toned stomachs, hair practically sparkling in the hot sun, and strides, long and muscled, as the men made their way on the sand.
It was a calendar photo shoot come to life, and it was one hell of a picture. The three girls stared, their breathing becoming a bit more shallow as the oxygen seemed to be sucked from the air.
“Do you ladies mind sharing?” Rafe asked as they reached them.
Ari forgot to speak as she looked at Rafe, relaxed, tanned and sexy as hell. Oh, this man is about to declare to the world and God that he’s mine forever, she thought, dancing with glee inside.
“Of course not,” she replied, wanting nothing more than for him to join her on her chaise longue. She could forget there was anyone else on the beach as long as she was looking into the rich purple-blue eyes of her lover.
“You look good enough to eat,” Rafe said as he sat down at her feet, lifting her legs up and placing them in his lap.
“I was thinking the same thing about you,” she said, leaning forward for a kiss. She just couldn’t resist tasting his mouth.
“Why don’t I take you back to the palace so we can get cleaned up?” he asked, and her stomach clenched.
“Yes, I really should get out of this sun,” she agreed, leaping from the chair and bounding forward with Rafe right on her heels.
“Go for a walk with me, Lia,” Shane suggested while he grabbed a crystal glass full of ice-cold water from a table and guzzled it before sitting down on her chair.
“I’m fine right here,” she told him, knowing that if she went anywhere with him, talking would be the last thing on her mind.
“Yes, you are,” he replied with a deep rumble in his voice as he scanned her from head to toe, making her feel as if she’d just been thoroughly loved without the happy ending.
“Shane…” she began, still not knowing what she was going to say.
“These two need to be alone,” Adriane said as he held out a hand to Rachel.
