AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Are you still pregnant?’ He looked down at the curve of her bump. ‘Yes, you are. Which means this marriage is still on.’
‘But I lied to you, Augustine. I lied about so many things. And I shot someone. What about—’
Augustine took her face between his hands and brushed a kiss over her mouth, effectively silencing her. ‘Come and have breakfast, Freddie,’ he murmured. ‘Then we’ll discuss it.’
He wasn’t going to let her get away withnotdiscussing it, that was obvious, and even though she quailed at the thought, she had to stop avoiding her past. He knew all about it now anyway, and he didn’t appear to be angry. She had no idea why he wasn’t, but maybe it would be all right. And anyway, apart from anything else, she was hungry and the breakfast did smell very,verygood.
‘Okay,’ she said, giving in.
He smiled again, making everything inside her bask in the glory of it, then he got off the bed, picked her silk robe up off the floor and held it up, obviously intending to put it on her himself.
Her heart beat faster at the thought of him looking at her naked body. She wasn’t the most amazingly curvaceous woman in the world, certainly not compared to his usual lovers, but he hadn’t complained when he’d been making love to her this morning. In fact, he’d spent a long time tracing each and every one of her curves with his hands and then his mouth, making his enjoyment of her clear.
She’d never thought too much about her looks before. When she’d been on the run, she’d tried to be careful about being too obviously female because she knew that would make her a target. And when she’d got the job with Augustine, she’d dressed to draw attention away from herself not to it. She wasn’t supposed to draw notice.
But him standing there, holding her robe, with heat in his eyes, obviously wanting to look at her... She couldn’t help feeling a little thrill.
Dropping the sheet, she slipped out of bed and went over to him, enjoying the way the heat flared in his gaze as he looked over her naked body. She smiled as she came close then turned around, sliding her arms into the sleeves.
‘I think I should forbid you to dress yourself,’ he murmured as he wrapped the fabric around her, enclosing her in his arms. ‘I think in future you should only be dressed by me.’
‘That could make things difficult.’ She shivered as he tied the sash around her waist, then held her tight against him. ‘Weren’t we going to have breakfast?’
‘Hmmm.’ His mouth brushed the side of her neck. ‘Perhaps breakfast could wait a few minutes?’
She was tempted, so very tempted. It would be a nice distraction, but he was right, they did need to discuss things. ‘No,’ she said quietly. ‘We need to talk.’
‘Hold that thought, then.’ He didn’t sound disappointed. ‘Also, you need food.’ He released her, then took her hand and led her over to the table where breakfast had been set up. He pulled out a chair for her in a courtly gesture and sat her down in it before moving to take the chair opposite. Then he began pouring orange juice and putting food on a plate, and since it was all the things she liked to eat, he obviously meant it for her.
She hadn’t thought he’d noticed her preferences and it made her feel good in a way she probably shouldn’t to watch him put the waffles on a plate, with strawberries and cream and some maple syrup. And then some of the crispy bacon because she did like it extra crispy.
‘I can do it,’ she said. ‘I’m not completely helpless, you know.’
‘I know.’ His blue gaze caught hers. ‘But you need to let me look after you, Freddie. As your husband that will be my job.’
There was something intense in his eyes that she didn’t understand, as if looking after her was important to him, which was odd. He’d never looked after her so explicitly before. Was it because she was pregnant?
‘But you’re not my husband,’ she pointed out.
‘Yet.’ He pushed the orange juice in her direction. ‘But I will be.’
She shook her head. ‘You can’t want someone like me on the throne, sir. Not with my past. I’m a...a murderer.’
He handed her plate over to her. ‘Firstly, we’re not in bed now, Freddie, so you can stop it with the sir. Secondly, someone like you will be perfect for the throne. And thirdly, you’re not a murderer. There was no intent to kill that bastard, you were just protecting your sister. I told you that.’
‘But I... The law could be after me.’
‘Is the law, in fact, after you?’
Taking the plate, she put it down, feeling stupid. ‘I...don’t know. I couldn’t bear to find out.’
‘Well, I’ll find out and then I’ll handle it.’ Amusement glittered in his eyes, yet there was an edge to his voice. ‘What’s the point of being a king otherwise?’
He did tend to make light of things that he secretly took seriously.
‘But I—’
‘You’re not going to jail, Freddie. I won’t have it.’
