Page 18 of The Prince's Secret Twins

Tasha beamed, stroking the baby’s fluffy, dark hair. “We might be expecting,” she told the group.

“Mightbe?” Marianna asked, her eyes eager. “Am I going to be an aunt again?”

“You could be,” Khal replied, bouncing the baby in his arms when it looked like the infant was going to object. “We’re waiting a few more weeks before we take a test.”

Raj was grinning openly now. “Because of the insanity that will ensue if you announce Tasha could be carrying the next ruler of our country?”

Tasha cringed, her hand covering her stomach protectively. “Don’t say things like that,” she hissed, then smiled at the infant again. “I’m only five days late. And we’re not going to burden our child with responsibilities that they may or may not want.”

Khal glanced at his brothers over his wife’s head, silently alerting Raj and Joran that an argument had already been had over the line of succession. Obviously, that was a contentious discussion.

Joran lifted his son higher, tickling his stomach. “You’re not intimidated by us, are you?” he soothed.

That’s when an unexpected thud came from the next room. Tila jerked open the bedroom door, practically falling into the living area. She was bleary eyed from sleep.

Joran immediately shoved the baby into Marianna’s arms and stood up.

“What’s wrong?” he demanded, hurrying over to Tila.

She shoved a hand through her messy hair, looking around. It wasn’t until she spotted her tiny sons that she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Nothing,” she whispered, still trying to come down off of the wash of terror when her babies hadn’t been beside her when she woke. “I just…I was confused when I woke up.” She looked around, embarrassed by all of the attention. Even her babies were staring at her.

“Rafi and Laith are fine,” Joran assured her. “They have been with me the entire time you’ve been sleeping.”

She looked up at him, obviously working to calm herself. “How long did I sleep?”

He glanced at his watch. “About five hours.”

She sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t think I’ve slept that long since I brought them home from the hospital.” She stepped forward, then stopped, looking down at her wrinkled sweatpants and tee-shirt, then around at the other people in the room. Everyone was still staring at her, but what she noticed were the beautiful, sophisticated clothes they wore while Tila was painfully aware of the baby barf that had dried on her shoulder. “I should…!” She pointed behind her in the general direction of the bathroom. “I should get cleaned up.”

“Why don’t you take a long, hot shower? There are clothes in the dressing room to the right of the bathroom.” He kissed the top of her head. “Take your time. We won’t go anywhere.”

Tila bit her lip, not sure. But in the end, she felt too dirty and dingy to do anything other than shower. “Fine. I’ll…just be a few minutes.”

Chapter 12

Tila walked back into the bedroom and closed the door behind her. With her eyes closed, she prayed that her nerves would calm down. If she kept jerking awake like this, she was going to have a heart attack at the ripe old age of twenty-nine.

She hurried into the shower and found extravagant toiletries that she’d only read about online. They were expensive and luxurious. After toweling off, she padded barefoot into the dressing room to find an enormous room with only a few outfits folded up on the central drawer system. There were hanging rods along three of the four walls and a floor to ceiling drawer system. But in the center was a counter with a polished wood top and more drawers underneath. On the counter was a stack of large, soft tunic-like sweaters and tops in rich fabrics she would never be able to afford. She chose a soft, green silk top and paired it with comfortable black leggings. The top buttoned up the front, so she could nurse her babies, and the soft material draped beautifully, hiding the soft bulge of her post-partum belly. She found a pair of ballet flats that perfectly matched the top and pulled them on, glorying in the comfortable soles. Boy, money really could buy happiness!

She didn’t bother with makeup or doing anything with her hair other than pulling it all into a band, piling it on top of her head. When she looked in the mirror, Tila was shocked at how much better she looked. There were still dark circles under her eyes, but five hours of sleep had alleviated her grey, sickly pallor. She looked, and felt, much better than she had in…far too long.

Food, she thought. Yes, she needed something to eat. And something to drink! Plus, she needed to nurse her babies. Her breasts were pretty full after a five and a half hour breakfrom nursing. That was the longest she’d ever gone without nursing! It felt both glorious and painful.

When she opened the door this time, she found only Joran in the room with her sons on either side of him. They both seemed to be asleep. How was that possible? And unfortunately, that also meant that she would have to pump in order to alleviate the pressure in her breasts.

Again.

Darn it, she hated pumping! It was made even more embarrassing when she knew that Joran would figure out what she was doing. Was there anything less sexy than pumping breast milk?

Okay, there were probably thousands of situations that were less sexy. Giving birth probably topped the list. Being pregnant was pretty sexy during the middle months. Not so much when she’d been throwing up every five minutes during the first few months. And the last three months, she’d been as big as a whale. Nope, those months definitely hadn’t been sexy.

“What are you thinking?” his deep voice asked. “Actually, just a moment,” he corrected, then led her away from their sons so they wouldn’t wake them up.

Tila sighed as a shiver went down her spine, not surprised to discover that his voice still had power over her. He looked so amazingly handsome. She wanted to rush into his arms and beg him to…what? What did she want? The past several days had been so overwhelming, she wasn’t sure what she wanted anymore.

Except a tiny voice in the back of her mind yelled, “Him!” She wanted Joran.

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