In exactly 10 days, my first royal romance novel The Prince's Special Bride will be available for pre-order. To whet your appetite, here's an excerpt from one of my favourite scenes.
Christian walked closer. “What are you reading?”
Marie glanced from him to the book and back. He was so close now that he could see a tiny fluttering at her slender throat. Knowing she was as aware of the tension as him made it worse. Why couldn’t she be immune to him? It would make resisting her easier.
“The Little Prince,” she said with a tiny ironic smile.
“Seriously?”
Her chin came up in that characteristic gesture so endearing to him. “Yes, seriously. And now don’t get any thoughts into your head, it’s not at all connected to any real-life prince.”
His eyebrows rose. “It isn’t? You disappoint me to the core.”
He pressed a hand to his heart and managed a theatrically wounded expression, which made her giggle. The sound slid into him like a knife into his ribs, winding him.
“If I’m not the reason for this choice of book, then what compelled you to choose it?”
Her face grew thoughtful, more serene in its beauty. His feet moved closer on their own will.
“I read it several times in my teenage years, and it stayed with me. I like its simplicity that is at second glance not at all simple but really complex and wise and inspiring.”
Was it any wonder she fascinated him so? Any other woman might have chosen a romance novel or maybe one of the famed classics.
“What’s the reason for your choice?” Her question interrupted his thoughts.
He glanced down at the heavy book. “Much of the same you just said about yours, I guess. I enjoy its complexity, its wisdom. And as the member of a ruling family, I’d certainly benefit from knowing about ‘war and peace’.”
Christian smiled, and Marie smiled back, lighting the whole room and his lonely, closed-off heart.
“Then don’t let me disturb you from such important reading,” she said softly and turned towards the bookshelf.
The oddest sense of panic took hold of him. He didn’t want her to leave.
“Don’t. You don’t have to go, you’re not disturbing me.”
She didn’t heed his words but stepped away to search for the empty slot and slide her book into it. “It’s better this way. I really shouldn’t be here.”
Something in her tone made him realize that she understood as much as him that it wasn’t a good idea to meet like this. With nobody around. With endless forbidden possibilities swimming in the air like current ready to zap them.
“Has nobody told you that it is not done to turn your back on a member of the royal family and walk away, or to refuse them?”
Great, now he sounded pompous and pathetic at once, sure to drive her away. Marie stood still, her back to him, one hand holding onto the edge of the book.
“Has nobody ever told you that I’m not like the others?” she asked, so softly that he barely understood her.
Reacting on pure instinct, Christian crossed the short distance between them until he stood so close there was hardly any air between them. He could feel the heat she radiated, could almost taste her spicy sweetness on the tip of his tongue.
God, how he was aching to kiss her again. Just one more kiss. What harm could it do? Surely not as much harm as unfinished business?
“I do know that,” he said, surprised at how husky he sounded. “It’s one of the things I like about you.”
Oh no, he shouldn’t have said that...
Marie stood stock still, but he could hear her rapid breathing in the stillness. The silence stretched. He took the last step forward so their bodies were touching.
It was heaven. It was hell. It wasn’t enough.
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