Protecting The Princess - Nadine Millard Page 0,57

impossible one! Walking yourself into trees when you weren’t swinging out of them. I don’t know how I kept from strangling you.”

Harriet scowled at him but couldn’t quite keep her serious expression. She was far too happy.

“Perhaps you are regretting your decision?” she suggested.

Jacob pulled her scandalously close and chuckled softly at her gasp.

“The only thing I regret,” he whispered in her ear, setting off a raging storm of longing inside her. “Is not dragging you off somewhere to elope. Just you and I. And a bed.”

Harriet could feel her cheeks burn but she couldn’t deny that right at that moment, nothing sounded better.

“There isn’t long left,” she said, a little breathlessly. “And then we can leave.”

“And you’ll tell me where you’ve decided you want to go?” he asked, pressing a scandalous kiss to her neck before straightening and acting every inch the gentleman. But Harriet could still see the devilment in the depths of his eyes.

“Now that Lydia and Alex are here with little Freddie, England seems a bit pointless.”

“I don’t want to go to England,” she said mischievously.

“And you won’t want to be gone from the baby for too long,” he said, watching her face for clues.

“No, I won’t want to be gone too long. Just a couple of weeks will suffice.”

The dance came to a close, but they didn’t notice. They were too entwined in each other to notice anything else.

“So, what did you have in mind then?” he finally asked. “And how long will it take to get there?” he tagged on, a little desperately.

“An old, run down little cottage in the woods.” She smiled, shivering at the delight and desire in his eyes.

“That’s a two-day journey,” he said huskily.

“Yes, but this time we can take a luxurious carriage” she promised. “With no other passengers except us two.”

Jacob had a lot to learn about being a royal, Harriet supposed. One of which being that it was quite frowned upon to leave one’s own wedding, dragging one’s wife along as though the hounds of Hell were closing in fast.

But when they finally reached the privacy of their rooms, and he locked the door with a decisive click, she found that she preferred his way of doing things after all.

The End.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for reading Protecting the Princess! I hope you enjoyed Jacob and Harriet’s journey to happily ever after. If you enjoyed this story please leave a quick review on your favorite book retailer. Reviews help other readers determine to try my books or not, and I love reading what you thought! If you want to learn about my new releases, or when my books go on sale, please follow me on BookBub, or subscribe to my newsletter.

Keep reading for a special preview of Redeeming a Royal, coming May/June 2020!

Redeeming A Royal

Nadine Millard

Heavy is the heart that wears the crown…

Prologue

“Christopher, are you listening?”

Christopher Emmanuelle Farago Wesselbach dragged his gaze from the window and back to his father who was looming over him looking less than please.

The king never liked it when people got distracted in his presence. Least of all his own son.

And especially when it was his eldest son and therefore heir to the throne of Aldonia.

Christopher’s father wasn’t unkind or cruel. He was just king first, father second. That was how it needed to be. That was how Christopher himself would need to be when he ascended to the throne to rule their country.

As a boy of twelve, he knew this. Had known since he’d old enough to begin his lessons.

Crown and country first. Everything else second. Just as it should be.

Outside his father’s personal study, a study that would one day belong to Christopher, his siblings Alexander and Harriet played noisily, their screeches and laughter floating on the summer breeze.

Christopher felt a pang of envy as he listened to them.

They sounded like they were having great fun. While he was stuck in here. Again.

When he’d been younger, his mother had tried to convince the king that Christopher should be given time to just be a boy, just be a child. But the king wouldn’t hear of it.

“I had to learn. My father had to learn before me. And now, Christopher will learn. Duty to the crown must begin now.”

And so, every day when the nannies and governesses and tutors took Alex and Hari on nature walks, and fishing expeditions, when they played in the garden, or swam in the lake, Christopher stayed inside the palace. Learning his duty. Preparing for his future.

“Later today we