One Hot Desert Night Read Free

own private garden.”
    “As long as I don’t have to tend it, that sounds great.”
    After they navigated a narrow hallway flanked by more polished rock walls, Piper paused in front of a pair of gleaming wooden doors and opened them wide. “Enter this chamber fit for a princess. Or the princess’s sister.”
    Sunny stepped over the threshold and visually searched the massive room, awed by the absolute grandeur, including an intricately carved headboard, red satin spread and a scattering of matching red and gold chairs. She turned to Piper and smiled. “Where’s my tiara?”
    “I’ll have one sent up,” she said. “Bathroom’s to the right, complete with massive soaking tub and a carwash-size shower, in case you want to have a party with a companion or ten.”
    She didn’t even have one companion, let alone ten. When the image of the patently sexy, albeit elusive Rayad jumped into her brain, she mentally shoved it away. But she couldn’t dispel the suffocating imagines of confinement at the hands of a criminal. She couldn’t rid herself of the concern that she might never function as the normal sensual woman she’d once been. “Do you have a few minutes for a brief visit, or do you have to tend to royal duties or baby stuff?”
    Piper plopped down onto a gold brocade divan. “Sure. Sam won’t be up from his nap for another half hour or so.”
    Sunny joined her on the less-than-comfortable sofa. “So how is my nephew these days?”
    Her sister revealed a mother’s smile. “He’s fat and sassy and a very active eight-month-old. He started crawling fairly early, and now he’s pulling up on furniture poised to take off on his chubby little legs at any time. But I really expect him to climb before he walks.”
    She expected Piper to burst at the seams with pride at any moment. “I assume the supermodel hasn’t given you and Adan any trouble since the adoption.”
    “Not one bit. As far as everyone in the kingdom knows, Sam is my son.”
    Sunny took her sister’s hand. “He is your son in every way that counts.”
    “You’re right,” Piper said. “And not only am I a mother, I have been commissioned as the official palace portrait artist. It’s been a juggling act over the past few months, but I’ve had a lot of help with Sam from the staff and my gorgeous husband. I just finished Adan’s painting two days ago and I hope it’s up to speed.”
    Sunny smiled. “I saw the paintings, and Piper, they’re beautiful. I’m so glad you tore yourself away from our grandfather’s business so you could finally do what you’ve wanted to do for years.”
    Piper shrugged. “Believe me, if I hadn’t met Adan, I’d probably still be acting as the company’s goodwill ambassador. However, that position directly led to my husband.”
    Sunny grinned around an unexpected nip of envy. “You must have shown him some mighty fine goodwill, among other things.”
    After they shared in a laugh, Piper’s expression turned suddenly serious. “Enough about me. How are you doing?”
    She’d been dreading this part of the visit—recounting the details of what led to her breakup with Cameron. Horrific details that she’d relived every day and night since the traumatic experience. “I’m doing much better than the last time we spoke. I’ve moved past the anger and on to acceptance.” Though she would never quite accept her former lover’s abandonment when she’d needed him most.
    “It’s not your fault,” Piper said, as if she could read her thoughts. “He wasn’t good enough for you if he couldn’t face what happened.”
    “He tried, Piper. I was a mess.”
    “He didn’t try hard enough, and that makes him a jerk.”
    “He was dealing with his own guilt for not following me that day so he could ride in and save me.”
    “Stop making excuses for him, Sunny. You were brutally attacked and abducted and that’s not something anyone can get over in a matter of days. If I’d been through the same thing,