Page 29 of Forbidden King
He squeezed her palm. “I’ll speak to my parents on both matters, noble and otherwise.”
Perhaps she should have mentioned that when she’d filed for the noblewomen, but at the time, she’d just been happy he’d done something serious to help his bad-boy reputation. “You’re more open than I imagined.”
He let her hand go and she trembled until he traced her face. “Did you know my mother had your medical chart from when you started your job and put it on my computer?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “No. Why would she have that?”
He massaged her cheek which only confused her when he said, “She wanted to ensure you could have children before she mentioned your name, I’m sure.”
Did her fertility matter to Leo? Her mind raced with the question as she sucked in her lower lip. Of course it would. He’d told her he wanted children, and as a queen, she would be expected to have them. She glanced down at his wrist. “I understand, but I didn’t realize the physical was because she was considering me as your bride.”
He ran his hands through her hair and goosebumps grew on her arm as her lips tingled. “I didn’t think you did.”
She searched his eyes. “Why are you telling me?”
He gently tugged her closer even though he only wore a towel. “I’d like for us to be honest with each other, Anna.”
Warmth washed through her that she couldn’t explain and her mouth ached for him. “I think we work well together.”
He came so close his body heat burned through her shirt. Her eyes shut as she waited for his lips to touch hers. “More than work. I’d like for us to… enjoy each other’s company.”
He was a fraction of an inch from her mouth. Anna feared he wouldn’t kiss her, but then sweet bliss rushed through every cell when he finally did.
His kiss was heaven itself.
Lost in his arms until he pulled back, their mouths barely apart—she stared into his brown eyes and watched them darken.
For the past year Leo had been a secret late-night fantasy, but now he was here and her husband. In a low voice she said, “I was disappointed when you didn’t kiss me earlier.”
He rested his forehead on hers and strummed his thumb against her shoulder. She reveled in the touch. “What caused your sudden change?”
She wished he’d kiss her again already. Had she changed? “Sudden?”
“In the morning you were shy and didn’t want me near you. Then after our ride, you… you wanted me to kiss you. I didn’t understand why, and I don’t want to rush you into something you aren’t ready for.”
He caressed her arm from her shoulder to her wrist while she explained, “I guess I did change—when you took the time to set up that date on the hill? And you checked to see that I was okay despite the fact I made you run in the rain.”
He kissed her forehead. “You didn’t make me.”
Perhaps those weren’t the right words. She’d known Leo always accepted a dare from his friends, though this was the first she’d ever asked him to do anything. Anna shrugged. “I dared you, when that was clearly stupid.”
The servants knocked on the door to their suite and he let her go.
The absence of his touch sent a shiver through her. “I’ll get it,” she said, and walked toward the door, while he disappeared inside his closet to get clothes.
She directed the lunch, complete with wine and desserts, to be set up on the small breakfast nook and not the bigger dining table in the room.
Smaller spaces meant intimate conversation.
The crew was fast and already gone when Leo joined her in a pair of blue linen pants that seemed tailored for him—he hadn’t bothered with a shirt.
Leo kissed her cheek. “Your dare wasn’t stupid—I got to see your wild side. We’re warm and having our picnic indoors with a view of the ocean.”
She motioned toward the table and said, “But I risked your life.”
“Which is what a butler might say…” A slight chuckle escaped his mouth as he reached for the wine bottle and glasses. “A run in the rain isn’t my life. Don’t be dramatic.”
“I’m never dramatic.” She prided herself on calm in any situation though he was right that she thought like a servant, which was what she was until recently. He poured a clear pinot grigio and she detected notes of citrus rising from the bottle.
