Page 4 of Impossible Heir for the King

‘You know, it doesn’t surprise me that you can’t recall who you’ve slept with,’ she said, masking fear with sarcastic fury. ‘I understand there are multitudes of women who’ve had the dubious honour of being in your bed butIam not one of them and I never will be.’

‘I’m aware that we haven’t slept together.’ He regarded her steadily, apparently unmoved by her snark about his hyperactive sex life. ‘And I agree that such an event is extremely unlikely.’

She paused, cut by his quick, harsh reply. But of course it was true. He’d never want to sleep with her when he had his pick...

She glanced again at her black capri pants and plain T-shirt, work-stained and worn. Usually she didn’t serve the clients. Her father preferred his nubile stewards do that. Maia remained out of sight and she liked it that way—or at least in that particular environment she did. She plaited her hair, coiled it into a bun and secured a scarf over the top. It was hot in the galley and the last thing she wanted was a loose strand falling into her food. But she’d never felt as unattractive as she did this second. No make-up. No pretty nails. Her style was best summed up as brutal utilitarianism. By necessity, not choice. Her father didn’t think she needed a clothing allowance and as she rarely left the boat she didn’t need anything that was too delicate to work in.

King Niko was watching her intently. ‘Eleven weeks ago you went to the Coral Shore Women’s Clinic. You were a walk-in who benefitted from a last-minute cancellation.’

Maia watched seriousness mute the gleam of his brown eyes.

‘You were there because you had some personal concerns but you didn’t get the chance to talk through them with the doctor,’ he said. ‘Instead you had an initial physical examination with a nurse practitioner. Or you thought that’s what was happening. A routine smear test of some sort.’

‘How do you know this?’ She was beyond humiliated that the king knew such private details about her.

‘But after that physical, the clinician left the room and for some reason you didn’t stay to see the doctor. You left, telling the receptionist you couldn’t wait any longer. Your boat left port only a half hour later and you’ve not returned to land since.’

Her heart raced. ‘I live on board my father’s charter vessel. I’m part of the crew.’

‘Is the rest of the crew unpaid as well?’

The earth rolled beneath her feet. How did he knowthat?Whydid he know that? And how could he possibly think she might bepregnant?

She felt the walls closing in as he advanced upon her. Was that a flicker of regret in his eyes? If so, it was swiftly obliterated by steely determination and he didn’t stop talking. He didn’t stop saying this crazy stuff in that too clinical tone as he stepped too close for her comfort.

‘What you didn’t know was that there had been a miscommunication within the medical centre staff. The clinician who entered your room wasn’t aware the other appointment had been cancelled. That appointment was for an insemination. You were wearing a mask and you are not dissimilar in appearance to the woman who’d been meant to be there.’

‘Not dissimilar?’ Maia’s heart lodged in her throat. ‘An insemination?’ He couldn’t possibly mean what... He couldn’t possibly be serious. ‘Why would they have a sample of your...’ She hesitated.

She might be inexperienced but she’d grown up surrounded by salty seafarers, many of whom called elements by their most base name possible. But not, perhaps, in front of a king.

‘Traditionally a prince couldn’t be proclaimed the immediate heir without first proving his virility,’ he said. ‘By providing thenextheir. This was to preserve the lineage and keep the crown within the family. Usually this wasn’t a problem as any heir was generally married and had procreated long before the elder king passed on. But I was pretty young when I became crown prince and had no intention of marrying and fathering a child at that point in my life. Fortunately I was able to prove my virility by more modern means.’

She was so appalled any decision to mind her mouth was forgotten. ‘You mean they studied your spunk like you’re a stallion or something?’

His eyebrows shot up. ‘You’re asking if they treated me literally like a stud? Then yes, that’s exactly what happened.’

She was both appalled and fascinated. What a weird world the man lived in. ‘But all of that must have been ages ago.’

She didn’t know exactly when his father had died, only that it had been sudden. A second tragedy since his mother had died in an accident a couple of years before. ‘Why would they have kept that sample?’

‘Apparently, it was considered too precious and they wouldn’t dream of just discarding it.’

‘As if it was some sort of sacred artefact?’ She gaped, her mind boggled.

He suddenly laughed. ‘You disagree with that assessment?’

But this was no time to be laughing. And he ‘discarded’ it all the time, did he not? With all those stars and models and socialites that he seduced when he was overseas. ‘You didn’t know they’d kept it?’

As his smile faded Maia tried to understand the outrageous complexity of what he’d told her. An awful thought stuck her. Had he a partner that no one knew anything about? Was he trying for a child with someone who would be feeling so hurt and betrayed right now? Yet why would that be necessary—wouldn’t they just try for a baby the usual way? Unless there were problems, which just made everything worse. And the man wasn’t even engaged to anyone—or was he? And was she really having all kinds ofwrongreactions to someone else’s lover?

‘How was it possible for such a mistake to be made?’ She asked desperately, trying not to consider the implications of what he’d said.

‘My question exactly.’

‘Whywould they have taken your sample? It’s—’

‘Being investigated and those found responsible will feel the consequences,’ he interrupted stiffly. ‘What has occurred is unforgivable. I can only apologise that you’ve been caught up in it.’

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