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They jumped off the ledge together. After a quick plunge, cold water surrounded them. Tristan wrapped his arm around her waist and easily tugged her to where they could touch. He encircled her waist with his arms and pulled her in close, him in his suit and her in her dress. It was silly and crazy and exhilarating.
His gaze dropped to her mouth but lifted quickly. His blue eyes were warm in the moonlight. She should be shivering from the cold water, but in Tristan’s arms she was warm, filled with exhilaration.
“Truth or dare,” she whispered, afraid of breaking the spell.
“Truth,” he said.
She felt a sting of disappointment. She was ready to use the dare to get him to kiss her.
“You’d ask me what my loftiest dream is … and at the risk of being too cheesy, because I know you’ll tease me, I’d admit that even more important than traveling the world to help children ...” She looked down, then dared to meet his gaze again. “You are my loftiest dream, T.”
“Jenn.” His voice sent thrills through her, but his look and touch were even more meaningful. “I feel the same. You’re my loftiest, most exhilarating, happiest dream. With you by my side, seeing me, faults and all, and still wanting to be with me, I can do anything. Be anything. A fair and benevolent king like my father.”
She loved that. She loved him.
“Truth or dare,” she managed.
“Dare.”
Her heart beat faster and faster.
“You’d dare me to kiss you long and slow, because we both know that’s the real reason you brought me to the waterfall pool tonight.”
He chuckled. “You know me so well.”
Tristan gently lifted her until their mouths were aligned and she was no longer touching the bottom of the pool. She slid her arms around his neck, anticipation thrumming through her.
“You’re the only woman for me, Jenn.” His breath was warm against her mouth. “Ever.”
“Oh my, Mr. Crown Prince, what beautiful lines you spout.”
“All the better to convince you with, my dear.” He smiled slightly, but then he said in a husky, irresistible voice, “It’s not a line, Jenn. I’ve known for years that you’re the only woman I want. Tonight is a dream come true for me.”
With those beautiful words, he captured her mouth with his. Joy and light exploded within her. Tristan kissed her long and slow, and it was absolutely perfect. She was the only woman he wanted, and they’d be together. True love.
Jennifer kissed him until the royal guards came to escort them home. She was in no rush. Tristan was hers, and she was his. She had always been his.
Chapter One
Present Day
Crown Prince Tristan August jogged along a thickly wooded trail, headed for his favorite waterfall. The waterfall where he’d first kissed his true love, Jennifer Shule, as an innocent eighteen-year-old with no clue how viciously life and love could turn on a person.
It was late morning on an early September day. He’d escaped from the endless meetings because it was his brother Derek’s wedding day—the second brother to get married in the past two weeks.
Also because Prime Minister Henry Shule had to go ‘meet’ with someone who had information about his wife Leslie’s whereabouts.
Tristan and his dad hadn’t pried, as the meetings were getting more and more disappointing. They happened often and so far there had been no leads. His twin, General Ray, and Ray’s best friend Chief Jensen also had people searching for Leslie and the Rindlesbachers around the clock. They’d sent notices throughout the world with Interpol, police departments, and military allies to find the criminals and rescue Leslie. They prayed for Leslie’s safe return and that Henry was beyond William Rindlesbacher’s devious manipulations.
Ray had been informed as soon as the prime minister walked out of the king’s office. Two guards were trailing him—for Henry’s safety as well as the royal family’s peace of mind. They were ninety-nine percent sure the snake William Rindlesbacher had Leslie and that he’d use her to his advantage when he struck again. It had been two peaceful weeks with no sightings of the man or his wife, but that meant little. The master manipulator could not be allowed to accomplish any more evil on their soil.
Tristan slowed his pace, tilted his head back, and let the dappled sunshine filtering through the trees soothe him. The day was plenty warm enough to take a dip in the chilly waterfall pool. He admired the gorgeous colors of fall that came early to their mountainous country sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria in the Alps, Germany their neighbor to the north and their southern tip touching northern Italy. Vibrant reds, oranges, yellows, and greens lit up the mountain landscape. Derek and Ellery’s wedding this afternoon would be exceptionally beautiful.
Footsteps sounded behind him, but when he glanced over his shoulder, nobody was there. He upped his pace and touched the Ruger LCP on his hip. Preferring to run alone, he’d had to concede to the sidearm, a satellite phone, and a couple knives in his pocket to appease his twin brother. Ray took the protection of his country and his family seriously. Thank heavens for his new wife Macey’s calming influence and two blissful weeks with no Rindlesbacher schemes, or Tristan would be running with a platoon of royal guards surrounding him.
Not that he could blame Ray. Their family had been through some vicious attacks lately. The ugly scars on the left side of Tristan’s face, neck, and shoulder weren’t decorations, conversation-starters, or his latest attempt to keep droves of female admirers at bay. The recovery from the bombing incident had been painful enough that sometimes he’d secretly wished he’d joined his mum up in heaven instead of surviving the attack.
He’d never admit that to anyone, especially his twin or his best friend Major Chad Prescott. Those two had enough to worry about with keeping the kingdom safe, Ray with his new wife, and Chad having recently experienced his first female rejection when Sophie Pederson had chosen Tristan’s youngest brother Malik, the Charming Prince, over the suave Chad. It had stunned everyone, most of all Chad.
