Page 49 of Pregnant With His Majesty's Heir

She was so close. She wasn’t sure she could move.

Except Lucien was right. She wanted more too.

Anchoring herself on his shoulders, she rose, luxuriating in the slide of their bodies, then sank again, a little harder, a little faster.

Then again and again.

Inside the fire built to a conflagration that threatened to consume her. She told herself she couldn’t give in to it yet. They’d only just started and—

Thought died as he slid his thumb down through damp curls to press that sensitive nub at the centre of her sex.

There was a roaring sound, as if the world caught alight. She saw flames reflected in Lucien’s eyes as they reached up to engulf her.

Aurélie was swept in a tornado of fire and light. And pleasure, such pleasure.

She heard a high, keening sound, felt the rush of blood and the power as they arched together. Then came something she’d never experienced before, since in the past they’d used condoms. Lucien’s deep groan of release heralded his body’s quickening and his seed pulsed into her.

It felt...profound.

She and Lucien had already made a baby so this feeling that they shared something unique didn’t make sense.

Yet as she collapsed against his shoulder, riding the jerky motions of his powerful body, Aurélie smiled. It felt as if she and Lucien experienced the most profound link a man and woman could. A link that was physical, but so much more too. A link that bound them irrevocably.

CHAPTER TWELVE

LUCIENWOKETOa feeling of calm and well-being. There was no buzz in his brain, reminding him of the people relying on him, the work he had to do, his schedule and expectations.

Instead there was warmth and...cosiness.

He stretched, arching his back, and instantly stopped as he registered the warm, feminine body in his embrace. One arm was stretched beneath Aurélie and the other wrapped around the curve of her waist. He lay on his side, spooned behind her. That fresh hint of flowers teased his nostrils and when he bent closer, soft curls caressed his mouth.

He inhaled deeply, unable to resist.

Memories flooded of last night. Of the incredible rapture he’d found with her. The release and sense of utter rightness had confirmed he and Ilsa had done the right thing, ending their betrothal.

Aurélie even made him feel better about the way he tackled the task of kingship. Her words about Vallort being lucky to have him might have been naïve but they’d been a welcome change after months fretting that he wasn’t ready for the role.

With her everything was simpler, despite the complications in the outside world.

Lucien felt once more that stillness, as of time stopping, while they were together. As if they were somewhere unaffected by the world rushing past.

He’d experienced it the night they’d met. She’d grounded him when the depth of his grief overwhelmed him.

He felt that sensation again now. He had no name for it. Could only assume it was a blend of super-charged attraction melded with understanding. Now that bond was strengthened by their child.

That had to explain the intensity of what they’d shared last night. The explosive ecstasy. When he’d finally come back to himself it felt as if he’d broken apart and the pieces had been put back together to make a new Lucien. Someone familiar but not quite the same as before.

Renewed. That was how he’d felt. Still felt.

These last couple of months had been an emotional strain and an enormous challenge. He’d grown up with the royal family, knew how it functioned, but had never expected to step into Justin’s shoes.

Leading a nation racked by the deaths of not one but two beloved figures, proving himself and coming to grips with new responsibilities, had been his total focus.

Now that focus had shifted.

He stifled a grin, acknowledging his hard-on pressed against Aurélie’s soft derrière. Imagining the ecstasy of losing himself in her lush warmth. But she was sleeping and she needed rest. He’d seen how stressed she was and how weary. Morning sickness had taken its toll.

With Aurélie desire was a constant. It had tortured him through the days when he was still caught in a dynastic betrothal but lusted after this gorgeous redhead. It had almost undone him when he’d tried to use logic to persuade her to stay.

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