The Queen's Nine-Month Scandal Read Free

here.’
    Both his hands went to her arms now and he impelled her to look at him. His jaw was tight. ‘What is it you’re running from?
    My future! Analia wanted to blurt out. But how could anyone understand? She shook her head and tried to pull free. ‘Look, I can’t explain, I just...have to go.’
    His hands were like steel brands on her arms. ‘Do you? Really? Right now?’
    Analia stopped struggling and looked up, mesmerized all over again by this compelling stranger. Sasha. An intense yearning filled her with desire. His kiss made her want to experience more. Wicked and decadent things which as the Queen she would never be allowed to do. But things which as Alexandra, incognito...her whole body seemed to ignite at the very audacious thought of the possibility.
    She recalled thinking of how she so desperately wanted something, anything, for herself. Could this night be it? This man? Desire thickened the air around them. She wanted more than a kiss...much more.
    As if sensing her hesitation he repeated his question, ‘What is it you’re running from?’
    Analia whispered through a pounding heart, ‘I don’t want to run.’ She wanted this man to take her away from here, from this place. Take her somewhere where she could feel in control of her own destiny, even for just a few hours. Give her back something of herself. Something she could treasure in the months and years to come...
    ‘Then don’t run. Come with me.’
    Yes. It was the craziest thing she felt, this recognition. The answer reverberated through her body again before her mind could catch up. ‘ Yes .’
    She wasn’t aware she’d spoken out loud until he took her glass from her hand and put it down on a nearby table. She was dimly amazed that it hadn’t splintered into pieces in her hand before now.
    With her hand firmly in his, he led her back into the palazzo and towards the main door. It felt unnacountably right that she was leaving with him. There was no fear. On some very deep and instinctive level she felt as if she’d known this man forever. Sasha.
    Little fires raced up her arm from where their hands were joined. He led her down dark passageways lit only by flaming lanterns and out to an entrance where a speedboat was waiting. Only another passing boat along the canal broke the peace.
    He turned to her then in the shadowy arched entrance and cupped her face with two large hands, making the blood rush to her head. He looked fierce but it was intoxicating. This time Analia was ready for his kiss and when his hard mouth settled over hers, she responded eagerly, opening up to him.
    Her hands clung to his shirt. Her legs were wobbly. She could feel the steely strength of his chest against the backs of her fingers. The wicked stroke of his tongue along hers sucked her into a vortex of need and desire.
    He tore his mouth away abruptly and Analia realized they were both breathing raggedly. She couldn’t focus, couldn’t find her footing. She was floating in a heat haze. Everything tingled. She wanted him. More than anything she’d ever wanted.
    ‘You’re sure you want to come with me?’ His scent wound around her, binding her to him as inexorably as if he’d chained her to him. She had the sudden compulsion that she wanted him not just for tonight but forever. Which was beyond crazy. She’d only just met him. But the thought of this moment, this night ending now was more terrifying to her than the emotionally sterile future she faced.
    ‘Yes.’
    It was just one word but Analia was giving everything over to this man without hesitation. Her trust and her most fragile secret dreams. Herself. Because she knew that this would be her most selfish act.
    He led her to where the small sleek boat bobbed gently on the water. He stepped in and turned back, placing his hands around her waist to lift her in. Analia placed her hands on his wide shoulders and looked down into a face she couldn’t see, eyes she couldn’t read and yet...something