Page 63 of Royal Caleva: Luis

“You’re a better person than I am.”

“In this case, your selfishness works in my favor.”

She hummed an answer as she savored the play of light over his muscled body, his heartbeat strong against her ear. Of course he would be beautiful after all those generations of kings and queens choosing the most desirable mates.

Without even thinking, she said, “Why didn’t you marry again? You wanted a large family, and women must have lined up for the chance to bear your children.” She realized that was very personal, even given their recent intimacy. “Never mind. It’s none of my business.”

His sigh ruffled her hair. “There are many answers to that question. I was very busy learning to be a monarch and father, which left me little time to seek a new queen.”

She noticed he didn’t argue with her that women would line up to marry him, but then why should he? He had been on every international most-eligible-bachelors list for decades.

“But once you figured all that out?” she prodded.

“I’m not sure I have figured it out even now.” He paused a moment. “Once I settled into my two most important roles, I found I had no interest in anything more than…liaisons.”

Liaisons. That was the category she fell into. It sounded better than a one-night stand.

“I can see that Odette Fontaine might have left a bad taste in your mouth, although you didn’t know she was a psychopath back then,” Eve said. “But there must have been plenty of nice, sane women you could have married.”

His bark of a laugh held no humor. “Perhaps I did not trust myself to recognize which women were sane and which were not.”

“You’re older and wiser now. You could still have children with a younger woman.”

“Ay, Eve, I am indeed older. Too old to want to raise babies. I am awaiting grandchildren.”

He wouldn’t have to raise the babies. He had staff for that, but he wouldn’t want to leave a child of his to nannies, of course.

He fell silent for a long moment before saying in a harsh voice, “My wife died because she married me. I brought Odette into my family circle, and my nephew was tortured and mutilated as a result. Nothing in those experiences would incline me to attempt another serious relationship.”

The raw emotion in his voice punched her in the gut. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have pushed you.”

“Sometimes it is good to say these things out loud,” he said. “We learn more when we put the feelings into words.”

“Did you learn something?” she couldn’t stop herself from asking.

“I have made two disastrous choices, but only two. Perhaps that is bad luck, not a pattern.” His shrug shifted his chest against her cheek. “Why didn’t you marry again? You are a beautiful, accomplished woman whom a man would be privileged to marry.”

She ignored his compliment. “Maybe I didn’t trust myself to recognize the wrong person either.” But that was only part of it, and maybe she owed him her truth. “I felt defective,” she nearly whispered. “I wasn’t able to have a baby. That’s why Ben left me. No one would want to marry someone defective.”

His arm tightened around her as his breath hissed in. “Qué cabrón! That bastard! You know that is not true.”

“When you’re very young, and the man you love tells you the same thing over and over again, you internalize it. It’s a hard thing to shake after that, no matter how much older and wiser you get.”

“But now you are beyond the issue of childbearing, so what holds you back?”

“Seriously? I’m not a king with a castle, a private jet, and a yacht. No one is standing in line for a middle-aged vet tech.”

“I have demonstrated that my gender can be very stupid about women. I am happy to be at the front of the line.” He tilted her chin up so that he could press a kiss on her lips. She kissed him back, loving the feel of his mouth on hers.

“I’m happy that you are the line.” She stroked the soft springiness of his beard. “This is so surreal when I stop to think about it.”

“You said you did not want to think, so don’t.” He grazed his fingers down her shoulder to tease her nipple. Electric pleasure zinged through her. “In fact, my wiser self says that we should stop dwelling on the ugly past and focus our attention on the delightful present.”

He rolled them both over so he was braced on his forearms above her while his thighs settled between hers. When he slid down her body to kiss his way along the inside of her thighs, she forgot about everything except how very good he made her feel.

When Luis woke up for the second time, he was alone, and the sky was beginning to lighten. Eve had slipped out of bed while it was still dark. After he had seen her to the door, he had settled in the spot where she had lain, soaking up the lingering warmth and scent of her before he fell back to sleep.

Crossing his arms behind his head, he basked in the sense of well-being that hummed through his body. He enjoyed the feel of the smooth cotton sheets against his skin. He hadn’t slept in the nude for too long. It had become routine to wear pajamas in case he had to deal with a middle-of-the-night emergency. Now he relished the sensuality of being naked.

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