Page 43 of Revelations of A Secret Princess

Her ball gown swung wide as she turned up a familiar staircase, skirts lifted for speed, her breath coming in raw gasps that betrayed her pain.

Along another corridor, right to the end of the palace furthest from the rest of the family’s rooms. There, highlighted on a wall, was the victorious knight in armour, running a lance through a whimpering dragon. Caro didn’t have to look to know the knight wore the same look of cold disdain Jake had as he’d stripped her soul bare.

Caro pressed a hand to her pounding heart and wrenched open the door to her rooms.

Sanctuary at last! At least for the ten minutes she’d give herself to regroup.

She swept in and turned to close the door but a dark figure loomed in the doorway. Before she could react Jake inserted himself into the closing gap, crossed the threshold then stood, looming over her.

‘Perfect,’ he purred in a deep rumble that danced along her bones. ‘Just what we need, a quiet place to continue our discussion uninterrupted.’

Fingers welded to the doorknob, Caro struggled for breath. His effrontery left her speechless.

‘No! I want you to leave.’

‘Why? Are you scared to be alone with me? You’d rather have witnesses for this discussion?’

‘It’s not that.’ Despite his anger she wasn’t scared of Jake Maynard. More of her inability to deal with him until she had her emotions under control. With him she felt as if she walked a tightrope, one false move and she’d fall into...she wasn’t sure what, but every sense screamed she couldn’t go there. Especially with so much at stake.

Caro drew herself up, projecting the regal assurance the rest of her family did so well and for which she’d had to struggle.

‘I didn’t invite you here.’ The sight of that big, brooding form in her private sanctuary sent a strange jolt through her. As if he trespassed on something more fundamental, more personal than a mere room.

‘That’s unfortunate,PrincessCarolina.’ He said her title as if it were tainted. ‘We have so much to talk about.’

Caro hefted a breath that didn’t fill her lungs and tried to get a grip. ‘We do. But not here. Not now—’

Jake shook his head. ‘Yes, here and now. And as for you not inviting me, let me be absolutely clear.’ He bent towards her, thrusting his starkly sculpted face into her space. ‘I would never have invited you into my home if I’d known who you were. You owe me.’

Caro’s eyes bulged at the venom in his voice. ‘Look, I know my identity is a surprise and I regret not telling you in the beginning but I had excellent reasons—’

‘To lie and cheat? Perhaps to steal too?’ His eyebrows contracted in a mighty scowl and the atmosphere thickened as if a thunderstorm threatened.

‘I don’t cheat and I definitely don’t steal!’ Horror mixed with an anger she couldn’t suppress, despite the voice inside telling her she needed to be calm and reasonable. That had always been her default position.

And look where it got you!

‘So you say. But from where I stand you’re a liar and a cheat.’ He shook his head. ‘To think I almost felt sorry for you with your sob story the other night.’

‘I wasn’t lying!’ Her distress had been only too real.

‘Except your baby didn’t die, did it, Caro?’ He stepped so close his breath wafted warm across her skin. ‘Your child is alive and well.’

‘You know?’

Howdid he know? It didn’t seem possible. She’d never have believed it herself if she hadn’t finally been told the truth by someone who’d been there. The knowledge staggered her. Her numb fingers slid from the doorknob and Jake shut the door with a solid thud, closing them together in the shadowy room.

‘I know.’ There was no satisfaction in his eyes, only a burning emotion she felt like a brand on her skin. ‘And I tell you now, you can’t have her. You’llneverhave her. I’ll do whatever is needed to make sure of it.’

‘No!’ She wasn’t aware of launching herself at him but suddenly she was grabbing his lapels, leaning into him as if she could change his mind by the force of her desperation. ‘Don’t say that.’

His big body froze, all except for the rise of that wide chest and the quick flick of the pulse at his temple.

‘Are you going to try using your body again to persuade me? It won’t work this time.’

‘I’dneverdo that!’

‘No?’ He looked so supercilious, staring down at her with hateful superiority. It dragged up memories of the many times she’d felt powerless, when others, principally her royal father, had twisted circumstances against her. ‘You’re saying you had no ulterior motives when you offered yourself to me? You weren’t using your body to get what you want?’

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