‘What’s this?’
‘Our anniversary escape.’ He tightened his hold on her. ‘Or did you think I’d forgotten?’
‘I didn’t think you’d forgotten,’ she murmured. ‘I thought you were probably planning something for later. I figured your meeting was a cover.’
‘Were you planning something?’
She smiled coyly and leaned back against him. ‘Of course.’
She loved dreaming up nice things to show she cared. Small things, to treat him, and he did the same for her—slowly building their own language of care and love and collecting the trinkets to put in their shared memory box. But this time she had the most perfect secret to surprise him with.
She slipped down from Jupiter and walked towards the tent. Fairy lights were wound around the wooden poles while the interior was filled with fresh flowers and a pile of soft-looking wool throws artfully strewn on a bed. There was a small table with a wicker basket beside it that she knew would be filled with their favourite picnic food.
‘Going for comfort this time?’ she teased him.
‘Going to stay the whole night.’ He nodded. ‘Maybe even two nights.’
She curled her toes with delight. There was nothing better than stealing time for just the two of them. She’d never known such fulfilment and happiness.
‘So…’ He leaned back to look into her eyes. ‘Has my bringing you here caused any problem for what you had planned?’
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.
* * * * *
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ISBN: 9781488059568
Shy Queen in the Royal Spotlight
Copyright © 2020 by Natalie Anderson
All rights 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.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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