To Claim His Heir by Christmas by Victoria Parker

Author:Victoria Parker
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-10-31T17:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

LUCIANA CURLED UP on a cushioned recliner on the beach and gazed up at the midnight sky, wishing on a billion twinkling diamond stars that Thane’s business calls would take all night. But, as she already knew, burying her head in the sand would help no one—least of all herself.

The drive back down to the coast had been taut with tension, and by the time dinner had been served on the upper floor balcony Luciana had been strung so tightly she’d barely eaten one mouthful of the delicious seafood paella Hanna had slaved over. Which had only made her feel guiltier still. And she wouldn’t have thought that was possible.

Closing her eyes, she recalled their brief conversation in the car.

‘I didn’t want to tell you,’ he’d said. ‘I thought you’d hold it against me.’

‘I’m glad you told me. You saved his life in the end. It must have been a horrendously hard call for you. Thank you…’

Thane had saved her father’s life. Paid an extortionate price for disobeying his tyrannical King. All for a man he hated. His enemy.

And how is he being repaid? His son is being kept from him. I didn’t know. I didn’t know any of this.

The guilt and pain tearing through her in one relentless lash after another wouldn’t cease. Not for a second.

One day. She’d been here one day and the enormity of what she’d discovered had her reeling. In truth, she wasn’t sure she was taking it all in.

The rush of the ocean lapping over the shore was broken by the sound of bare feet padding down the deck, sending her heart trampolining to her throat and her stomach vaulting with a hectic tumble of dread and anticipation.

Thane straddled the recliner in front of her, one long-stemmed glass of ruby-red liquid in his large grip.

With a wriggle, she edged back to give his broad frame more room, and rested her head against the mocha cushion to drink him in.

He was breathtaking. His dark, fathomless eyes pulled at her like a hypnotic suggestion pressing against her mind. A constant murmur of want that was becoming impossible to ignore. But fight it she would.

‘You are very quiet since we got back,’ he said, his voice low and warm with concern.

‘Just thinking.’

‘No more thinking of the past tonight, hmm? Let’s focus on the future. On us.’

She wasn’t sanguine enough to believe there would be an ‘us’ come the dawn.

You don’t know that for sure, Luce. He might listen to you. Try to understand.

It was a sliver of hope she clung to.

Raising her arm, she brushed his hair back from his gorgeous face and his decadent sable lashes fluttered as if weighted in bliss, as if he adored her touch. It broke her heart.

‘Relax, Luciana. You seem brittle enough to shatter.’

Smooth as silk, his voice caressed her skin—a tangible touch of his magnetic heat and power that lulled her to calm.

‘Here—take a taste.’

Glancing at the glass of red wine he’d promised earlier, she tried to swallow past her raw, swollen throat.

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