Kitabı oku: «United By Their Royal Baby»
A baby to heal their countries and their hearts?
When Queen Leyna of Aidara took the throne, she walked away from her first love, King Xavier of Mattan, putting duty first. Now their kingdoms are under threat, and the only way to bring stability is with a royal union.
Leyna knows the man she loved has barriers around his heart, but she can’t deny the glimmer of hope she still sees in his eyes. And knowing only an heir will save their countries, they must fight to find a way back to each other...
Conveniently Wed, Royally Bound
Three royal kingdoms united by marriage—or love?
When the kingdoms of the Three Isles—Aidara, Mattan and Kirtida—are threatened, for their young royal leaders duty becomes paramount. But in putting their countries first, they discover that their strategic marriages in name only run the risk of opening their guarded hearts to love...for real!
Find out more in:
United by Their Royal Baby
Childhood sweethearts Queen Leyna of Aidara and King Xavier of Mattan bear the emotional scars of ruling alone. But they now have nine months to find their way back to each other again...
Available now!
Falling for His Convenient Queen
King Zacchaeus of Kirtida and Princess Nalini of Mattan must unite their families in a marriage of convenience to secure their two kingdoms. But Nalini wants more than the cold marriage Zacchaeus has to offer. And it’s up to her to rescue his heart.
Available February 2018!
United by Their Royal Baby
Therese Beharrie
THERESE BEHARRIE has always been thrilled by romance. Her love of reading established this, and now she gets to write happily-ever-afters for a living and about all things romance in her blog at www.theresebeharrie.com. She married a man who constantly exceeds her romantic expectations and is an infinite source of inspiration for her romantic heroes. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa, and is still amazed that her dream of being a romance author is a reality.
For Grant, the light who helps me face my fears.
Thank you for always treating me like a queen.
And Luke and Leah,
I hope when you grow up, reading books where
characters look like you is the norm.
For now, this is for you.
I love you.
Contents
Cover
Back Cover Text
Introduction
Title Page
About the Author
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Extract
Copyright
Prologue
PRINCESS LEYNA OF AIDARA thought she’d never been more content than right at that moment. She had the sun shining on her, the ocean in front of her and the sandy beach around her.
And, of course, she had the future King of Mattan lying next to her.
‘We should do this more often,’ she said, and dug her back a little deeper into the sand.
‘We do this at least once a week, Leyna.’
She could hear the amusement in Xavier’s tone and her lips curved.
‘We visit the beach at least once a week. Doing this—’ she lifted a hand into the air and gestured to the towels that lay side by side ‘—is a rarity that we should definitely make more time for.’
‘You’re only saying that because you want to escape your royal duties,’ Xavier teased.
‘And you don’t?’ she shot back, turning her head to offer him a grin.
And ignoring the inner voice that sounded dangerously like her grandmother telling her that Xavier was an excuse to do just that.
‘I’m the future King of Mattan, Princess,’ he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. ‘I’m aware of my duties. Even though there are things expected of me that I can’t possibly begin to imagine.’
Hearing the fatigue, the annoyance just beneath his words, she turned her body to face him, resting her head on her hand. ‘Are your mother and grandmother at it again?’
He mirrored her position. Before she could stop herself, her eyes took in his muscular body, the dark brown hair that was a mess from their swim earlier and the kindness that was clear in every feature of his face. Her heart began to race. And then she told herself to stop it, and notice how that kindness was now eclipsed by sadness—tinged with the slightest bit of anger—that she knew came from his hopelessness about his family.
‘When are they not at it?’ He shook his head. ‘Every time I think I do something right, they counter with something I should have done instead.’ He paused. ‘Maybe I’m just not doing anything right.’
‘Oh, that’s rubbish and you know it.’ She sat up now, curling her legs under her. ‘I’ve never seen someone put more effort into their crown than you have.’
‘Besides you, you mean,’ he said with a smile.
‘Of course.’ She smiled back, though the voice in her head had returned, this time telling her she would put in even more if she didn’t have Xavier in her life. ‘But what I meant was that that dedication already means you’re doing something right, Xavier. Trust it.’
She reached over to squeeze the back of his hand, but he turned his over so quickly she didn’t know it until his fingers threaded through hers. Her heart jumped, and she opened her mouth to cut off what she knew was coming.
‘No,’ he said before she could. ‘You’re not going to put me off this time, Leyna.’
‘What...what do you mean?’
‘I’d like you to marry me.’
Her chest tightened. ‘I don’t think that—’
‘Both our families want this, Leyna,’ he interrupted.
‘They want Aidara and Mattan bonded, yes. This—you and I?’ She shook her head. ‘They aren’t quite as invested in that.’ When he didn’t answer her, she frowned. ‘You know this. You know what they think about our friendship.’
‘But I know what we think about our friendship, too. Don’t you think that’s more important?’
She didn’t know what to say. But she did know that she was glad they were on Aidara’s private beach, where there would be no prying eyes witnessing their conversation.
‘Leyna.’ He sat up now. ‘There is no choice for me. I have to marry you or my heart won’t ever forgive me.’ The seriousness in his eyes upped her heart rate even more. ‘I know you feel the same way, too.’
‘Why are you doing this?’
‘Because it’s time,’ he said simply. He stood, and held out a hand to help her do the same. She took it, but when she was on her feet she snatched her hand back.
‘It’s time to ruin something that means more to me than anything else?’
‘No. It’s time to finally make this—us—into what we were always supposed to be, Leyna. A family.’
‘I have family. I have parents who are King and Queen of a kingdom that needs them.’
So they don’t have time for me to need them.
‘And a grandmother whose heart is still broken from losing her husband almost ten years ago.’
And who’s so focused on the crown she can’t support the person who’ll one day wear it.
‘I have family, Xavier,’ she repeated. ‘What I don’t have are friends. I need us to be friends.’
‘You don’t think we’d be friends if we were married?’ His sombre tone told her things would probably change between them now, regardless of what she chose.
The panic inside her told her to make the right choice.
‘We’re best as friends. Just friends.’
‘Is that you speaking, or your family?’
‘It’s me.’ But a part of her wondered. ‘I haven’t listened to what they’ve said about us before. I don’t care about that.’
‘Then why are you so scared of what’s between us, Leyna?’ He closed the space between them with one step.
‘Because...’ She cleared her throat when her words came out more breathily than she wanted. ‘Our lives aren’t easy. The thing that’s helped me through it is our friendship. We’ve been friends for almost twenty years.’ Her voice broke. ‘Don’t take that away from me.’
He lifted her chin. ‘I’m not taking anything away from you. I want to add to that friendship.’ The left side of his mouth curved into a half-smile. ‘Yes, we’ve been friends for twenty years. But you know I’ve been in love with you for most of that time.’ She opened her mouth to dispute his words, but he shook his head. ‘You know it’s true.’
‘No,’ she said firmly.
‘Really?’ he drawled. ‘Why have you been trying to stop me from saying it to you for all these years then?’ His eyebrows lifted when she didn’t reply, and then he nodded. ‘Because you do know it. We both have from the moment I gave you that rose when we were five.’
When her heart melted at even the memory of it, she finally acknowledged the truth of his words. But he was right. She was scared. Scared of the change, and of what that change would mean for her life. One day she would be Queen of Aidara and she knew what that would demand from her.
And it wasn’t because her grandmother had warned her of the demands of the role. Or the way she constantly referred to Xavier as a distraction, and their friendship as ‘childish’. After years of defending what they had, Leyna had learnt to brush it off, knowing that Kathleen had a limited idea of what real relationships were.
No, Leyna’s fears had nothing to do with Xavier, and everything to do with what she knew those demands would cost her. Because she’d seen exactly how they had affected her father.
King Clive had gone from exuberant Prince to reserved King. She had memories of her father being happy, chasing her around the royal gardens as her mother watched on, laughing. But in the ten years since he’d become King, that man had slowly faded away. Wrinkles of stress had replaced those of laughter. Every smile he gave her seemed like the hardest thing in the world.
The only remnant of the man her father used to be was the love he clearly still had for her mother. It made her ask, ‘Will you still love me when I become Queen, when you become King, and we both have the hardest jobs in the world?’
‘Of course I will.’ His hand moved from her chin to brush away a stray curl. ‘Who better to love and support you than someone who knows exactly what you’re going through?’
‘It’s going to be harder than anything we’ve had to do so far, Xavier,’ she said, to remind herself just as much as to remind him. ‘You’ve seen what it’s done to my father,’ she whispered.
‘We’ll get through it,’ Xavier said softly.
‘What if we got through it better as just friends?’
‘We’ve never been just friends, Leyna.’
‘So why bring it all up now?’
‘Because it’s your birthday in two days. You’ll be twenty-one and you’ll be expected to marry. Just as I’ve been expected to marry for the last year.’
She pulled a lip between her teeth at the reminder of their one-year age difference.
‘You know I’ve been waiting for you. It’s the only reason I’ve managed to put my family off. I love you, Leyna. I want to be married to you. And I know that we’ll be stronger together than we’ll ever be apart. Apart here meaning just being friends.’
She smiled at that and felt the punishing pulse of fear ease. ‘It’s not as charming as you think, you know. Having all the answers.’
She saw the relief in his features, and he grinned. ‘And yet you’re still in love with me.’
‘Full of yourself, too.’
‘But you love me,’ he insisted.
She studied him and felt a smile claim her lips. ‘Since you seem so sure, I suppose I don’t have to say it.’
‘If you don’t say it, I’ll be forced to carry you back into that water.’
‘And I’ll be forced to decline your proposal.’
His eyes widened in mock fear. ‘You wouldn’t.’
‘You have no idea what I’m capable of.’
‘Show me.’
The teasing tone of his voice disappeared in a flash, and the light that had been in his eyes heated.
‘Are you propositioning—’
She was silenced by his lips on hers.
It wasn’t their first kiss—that had happened when they were thirteen and fourteen, beneath the very palm tree they stood under now. But it might as well have been their first. When they were barely teenagers, the kiss had been out of curiosity. It had been exploratory. As had the other kisses they’d shared since.
None of them compared to this.
It had the heat of a summer’s day in Aidara. And the promise of passion that had been restrained for years. Leyna’s arms were around Xavier’s waist before she fully knew it, their bodies so close together she could feel every part of him. Her body responded and, for the first time in her life, Leyna felt like a woman. Not a daughter or a granddaughter. Certainly not like the heir to a throne.
No, she felt like a woman.
One who could make a man moan just as Xavier did now. One who had the power to make a man lift her from the ground and press her against the trunk of a tree so he could press even closer to her. She was lost in the sensation of his lips against hers, of his tongue in her mouth.
She was suddenly grateful they were at the beach, wearing the attire required by their location. It meant she didn’t have to battle with clothing to feel the muscular planes of Xavier’s body. It meant she could enjoy the way his hands touched—claimed—the curves of hers.
When his hand lifted a thigh so he could angle himself against her, Leyna heard a sound come from her throat. She felt Xavier still, and then he pulled his head away, just far enough so he could look into her eyes.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing,’ she breathed, and put a hand on the back of his neck, urging him closer.
‘Leyna,’ Xavier said. ‘I’ve known you all my life. Tell me.’
‘I just...’ She felt her face burn. ‘I’ve just never...’
‘You know I haven’t either.’
‘I know,’ she echoed, knowing that if Xavier had had another woman, she would have known about it. ‘But...are we doing this now? Against a tree on a beach, with our bodyguards a short distance away?’
‘I...I didn’t think about that.’
Xavier took a deep breath, and then took a step back. Leyna immediately missed the contact.
‘I didn’t mean that we can’t do it at all. I just... Well, I just pictured it on our wedding night. In a bed surrounded by candles and rose petals. With champagne cooling.’
She sounded like a fool. More so when silence followed her words. But then Xavier smiled.
‘You pictured it?’
Her cheeks went hot, but she laughed. ‘Maybe.’
‘On our wedding night?’
Her heart softened at the emotion she heard in his voice. ‘Yes.’
‘So you always knew there was more, too?’
‘Of course I did. Did you think I was resisting something I knew wasn’t true?’ She frowned. ‘You were so sure...?’
‘I was betting with the most important thing in my life, Leyna. I had to be.’
She stared at him, and then shook her head. ‘If I didn’t already love you, Xavier, I think I might have fallen for you right now.’
‘But you do. Love me.’
‘I do.’ And, realising that he needed to hear the words, she said, ‘I love you, Xavier.’
He pulled her into his arms and rested his forehead on hers. ‘And you’re going to marry me.’
‘I am,’ she answered, though it wasn’t a question. ‘As soon as I possibly can.’
‘I think this might be—’
It happened so quickly that Leyna barely registered what had cut Xavier off. All she knew was that her royal aide, Carlos, was now standing in front of her and Xavier. Their bodyguards hovered just beyond him; their expressions were twisted with an emotion she couldn’t read, but it had her heart pounding with fear.
‘What is it?’ she asked, stepping out of Xavier’s embrace.
‘I’m sorry to interrupt—’ there was the briefest moment of hesitation before Carlos said ‘—Your Majesty.’
Chapter One
Ten years later
‘IS HE HERE, CARLOS?’
‘I’m afraid not, Your Majesty.’
For the second time in Leyna’s life, Carlos had brought her news of the last thing she wanted to hear. Now, of course, he was bringing it to her as her private secretary and not as a royal aide.
But then, her father’s death had changed more than just Carlos’ title. She’d become Queen immediately, and had lost the only man she’d loved. And now the news that King Zacchaeus of Kirtida had not arrived for the State Banquet intended to affirm the Alliance of the Three Isles threatened to be just as life-changing.
She closed her eyes for the briefest moment and then nodded. Released a breath.
‘Please find His Majesty, King Xavier, and ask him to join me in the library.’
‘Of course, Your Majesty.’
When Carlos left, Leyna took another deep breath. And a moment to deal with the feelings tumbling through her stomach. She opened the doors to the balcony of her library and greedily inhaled the fresh air.
It felt like the only thing keeping her alive.
The panic came now. Not dull as it had been when she’d first heard that King Jaydon of Kirtida had been overthrown by his son, Zacchaeus. And nowhere near how it had felt when he’d consistently refused her and Xavier’s attempts to discuss the future of the alliance binding their islands together, though she’d believed it sharp then.
No, the feeling cutting through her lungs now, tightening her throat and making her hands shake, was much worse.
But she only had a few moments before Carlos returned with Xavier. She forced herself to focus on her breathing, something she’d learnt to do when she’d taken over the crown after her father’s death.
When her heart, broken from her breakup with Xavier and from her mother fleeing, had beat so hard she thought it would explode from her chest.
She straightened her spine when she heard the knock on the door, turning in time to see Xavier stride past Carlos into the library. As it always did when she saw Xavier—despite the fact that their relationship now was only a political courtesy—her chest tightened.
She told her memories to stay where they belonged, but couldn’t help the relief that washed through her at his presence.
‘He’s not here,’ Xavier said immediately, and she tried not to wince at the tone.
‘He’s not. Which means—’
‘That he is renouncing Kirtida’s place in the Alliance of the Three Isles.’
‘I’d like to think that isn’t true. That Kirtida is still a part of our alliance.’ She saw a glint in his blue—almost grey—eyes, and tilted her head. ‘But his actions since he overthrew Jaydon speak volumes.’
‘Refusing our calls to set up meetings and refusing to see us when we resorted to just arriving at Kirtida in hopes of a meeting?’ Xavier asked gravely. ‘Tonight was the last hope we had that he’s willing to work with us, Leyna. So yes, I think his actions tell us exactly where we stand with him.’
‘If we assume he’ll withdraw—’ panic rippled through her chest again ‘—what do we do?’
‘We respond accordingly.’
‘How?’
‘We ensure that Zacchaeus knows the alliance between Aidara and Mattan is still intact. We ensure that our people know it, too.’
‘I’m sure there isn’t any doubt about that,’ Leyna said. ‘You are here at the dinner intended to do that very thing after all.’
‘It isn’t enough.’
She saw the determination in his eyes—in each of the once kind, now intimidating angles of his handsome face—and the relief she’d felt steadily ebbed. Her body tensed, and she saw that tension reflected in his tall, muscular frame, too.
‘What do you have in mind?’ she asked carefully.
‘Something that will leave Zacchaeus and our people without any doubt about the strength of our alliance. Something that will reassure our people that Kirtida’s absence from the Alliance of the Three Isles doesn’t mean they are unprotected.’
Silence pulsed in the room, and then Leyna said, ‘Tell me what you’d like us to do, Xavier.’
‘We should get married.’
Leyna’s thoughts immediately went back to that day on the beach when Xavier had proposed to her.
Her knees nearly buckled and she turned away from him and walked straight onto the balcony. She gripped the railing and fought for breath. And then she fought to be free of the memories.
They were vicious, she thought, and crept up on her when she least wanted them to. She’d only been fooling herself with her hope that they’d stay in the past. But she’d been desperate. Perhaps because she knew every moment she spent with Xavier would threaten to draw her back into what could have been.
She couldn’t afford for that to happen. She couldn’t afford to think about the hope, the love, that she’d felt on the day he’d proposed to her. If she did, she would inevitably think of the cold feeling that had come over her when Carlos had first called her ‘Your Majesty’.
She would think about the days she’d spent in a daze of heartbreak, worsened by her mother leaving Aidara the moment they’d buried her father. She would remember the fear she’d felt about ruling alone. How all the warnings her grandmother had given her about Xavier had haunted her dreams.
And the utter devastation when she’d realised that she couldn’t be the Queen Aidara needed with Xavier by her side.
She took a minute to compose herself. When she was sure the emotion and memories were as far away as she could push them, she walked back into the library. Xavier’s face was stony, but just above his lip was a twitch Leyna recognised as anger.
‘How would that work exactly? Us, married?’
‘If we got married,’ Xavier spoke in a careful tone, ‘it would be clear—not only to Kirtida, but to the world—that Aidara and Mattan are united. And with our collective military, our resources, our people, we would be powerful enough to defend against anything Kirtida attempts.’
‘Marriages end, Xavier,’ she said in the same tone, and saw the heat of anger flare in his eyes.
Good.
‘Royal marriages don’t just end.’
‘No,’ she agreed. ‘But you and I both know we can’t anticipate what might happen in the future.’
Maybe bitterness spurred on her words, but she didn’t give it much thought. Whatever motivated them didn’t change that what she’d said was the truth. She’d seen it with her parents. Her father’s death had made her mother forget her responsibilities to the crown. To Aidara. To her daughter.
Granted, Helene had married into the royal family of Aidara, and hadn’t been Aidaraen herself. When Leyna was feeling sympathetic towards her mother, she thought it must have been hard for Helene to stay in the place where her heart had been broken.
But those times were rare, and quickly followed by the reminder that Helene had left her daughter to fend for herself in the hardest job in the world. Without any support.
‘What does that mean?’
‘It means exactly what I said. Marriages don’t last for ever. You know that better than anyone.’
‘Leave Erika out of this,’ Xavier nearly growled, and Leyna’s bitterness meshed with jealousy.
‘You’re the one bringing her into this,’ she said lightly. Carefully. ‘I wasn’t talking about your marriage—I meant the institution, not your spouse.’
She gave him time to process—though, if she were honest with herself, it was more for her to find her own control again.
‘What are you suggesting, Leyna?’
‘Only that marriage is not enough to secure an alliance. Especially a precarious one.’
‘So what do you want then? A child?’ he asked sarcastically.
She’d had a nippy reply on the tip of her tongue that disappeared the moment her mind processed his words. There was something in that, she thought. But, for the life of her, she couldn’t wade through the flood of emotions his suggestion had released to identify what that something was.
But, because she had to, she struggled through it. Through the hope that came from a dream she’d given up on a long time ago. Of being a family with Xavier. Of having children with him.
Through the sadness that had come with the realisation that that would never happen. Through the resentment that she would still have to carry a child—with some man who would be her husband though she would never love him—for the sake of the crown.
And again, through the resentment that she’d given up her dreams for the crown.
And then again, through the hope that maybe duty would make that dream come true after all.
‘It’s not a real option,’ Xavier interrupted her thoughts. Her gaze moved to his and held, sparks she would never admit aloud still flying between them.
‘Unless it is.’
‘How would that possibly improve the situation with Zacchaeus?’
‘For the reasons you outlined. Except now we don’t only have the marriage backing our alliance, but a child as well. Which would mean that even if something happens to one of us, Aidara and Mattan would still be protected by the other.’
‘Mattan would take care of Aidara if anything happened to you,’ Xavier answered stiffly.
‘Even if that’s true, whoever I marry would need to give me a child. An heir to the Aidaraen throne. You know that,’ she told him, and saw the confirmation of it in his eyes. ‘The same goes for you. There’ll need to be a child for the Mattanian throne, too. And you can’t deny the political power in having one child as an heir to both kingdoms’ thrones.’
Xavier ran a hand through his dark hair, giving her a glimpse of the lighter streaks that she knew showed when it wasn’t styled so precisely. It made the colour of his skin, which spoke of the mixed African and European heritage they both had, look like a tan. As though he had lazily picked one up on holiday instead of from the work he did amongst his citizens.
But anyone who knew Xavier couldn’t deny he was a king. Leyna had always thought he looked exactly as a king should—authoritative, uncompromising, powerful. Only she had been privy to the other side of him when they’d been growing up. The easy, laidback man who’d relaxed on the beach with her and would casually hold her hand as they walked through the gardens.
It felt like a punishment that she no longer saw that Xavier. No, now she, too, experienced only that authoritative, uncompromising and powerful side of King Xavier.
Just as everyone else did.
But could she blame him?
‘Let me see if I understand this,’ Xavier said. ‘You think that if we marry it won’t be enough to strengthen the alliance between Aidara and Mattan on the off-chance something might happen to one of us. So you want to have a child to make sure that if something happens, our kingdoms will still be protected because there is a single heir to both our thrones?’
‘Yes,’ she answered. ‘And don’t be so dismissive of the possibility of something happening to one of us. We’ve both seen people we love die younger than they should have. It is a possibility.’ She gave him a chance to process before continuing. ‘A child gives us assurances in both cases. If something happens and if it doesn’t, because there’s no way Kirtida can misinterpret marriage and an heir. There’s also no better way to strengthen the alliance.’
‘That might be true, except for one little thing.’
‘What?’
‘I can’t give you a child.’
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