Page 88 of A Problem Princess

She gave a sharp nod. “At best, Uncle Ernest will be exiled from Monrovia and Britain, all his titles and fortune stripped away, and a new prince put into his place. Most likely what my father did will become known, and all our treaties with other states will be threatened, all our trade agreements called into question…all the respect we’ve worked so hard to earn lost. The trust of the Monrovian people in their monarchs will be completely destroyed.” She stopped wringing her hands only to worry at her bottom lip with her teeth, but always she paced, as if determined to wear a path through the rug. “At worst…” She halted in midstep and slowly raised her eyes to meet his. “At worst, Monrovia will cease to exist.”

“That won’t happen.” He crossed to her, cupped her face between his hands, and kissed her tenderly. The pain he tasted on her lips undid him, and he allowed himself only a moment to recover before reassuring her. “Your royal cousins will support you, and tomorrow, we stop your uncle. He won’t trouble Monrovia or England—or you—ever again.”

She clutched at his waistcoat. “And what becomes of me?”

“I’ll protect you.”

Sadness darkened her eyes. “You can’t protect me from this.”

“Better than you think.”

Her gaze locked with his. “What do you mean?”

“Tomorrow, you’re going where few women have ever been allowed to go.” When she frowned, he quirked her a half grin he didn’t feel. “You’re going to Parliament in your uncle’s place.”

A puzzled frown creased her brow. “Why would my uncle be absent?”

“Because he won’t be there to speak as planned.” He didn’t want to tell her anything more of their plans until he had to. There was no need to upset her any sooner than necessary. “But you, Your Serene Highness, will be there in all your glory to speak to the empire.”

Her mouth fell open. “I can’t! I never address foreign governments. It’s not one of my duties.”

“It is now.”

She swayed at the idea, and he took her arm to steady her. “Good heavens, what do I say?”

“You’ll be able to think of something.” He gave her elbow a squeeze. “Just speak from your heart, and tell them exactly what you want.”

“Speak from my heart…” She reached down to take his hand in both of hers and whispered, “My heart wants you.”

Andhisheart broke.

Dear God, how much he wanted exactly what she was offering! More than one night by the sea, more than a fleeting encounter… He wanted her for the rest of his life.

Yet she could never be his.

He pulled in a hard breath to combat the squeezing of his chest and rasped out painfully, “The heart can’t always have what it wants.”

He lifted her hand to his lips and placed a lingering kiss to her wrist where her pulse beat warm and strong. He squeezed his eyes shut against the pain. Tomorrow, one way or another, she would be taken from him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

“We can’t be together.” Then he admitted the damning truth. “A general—even one made a viscount—can never marry a princess.”

Desolation filled her voice. “But you would…if you could?”

He hesitated, not wanting to hurt her with his answer. But there was no point any longer in denying it. “In a heartbeat.”

When she rose up to kiss him, an anguished tear slipped down her cheek. So much longing pulsed from her that he shook from it.

She laced her fingers through his and led him to the bed. With agonizing slowness, she undressed him. Her fingers trembled as she helped him shrug out of his jacket, then unbuttoned his waistcoat that followed the jacket to the floor at their feet.

“I want to remember everything about you,” she whispered as she slipped off his braces. She ran her hands over his shoulders and down his arms. “The way you look…”

When she untied his cravat and pulled it away, her mouth went to his bare neck. The soft, lingering kiss she placed there was aching.

“The way you taste.”

A groan of restrained desire tore from the back of his throat when the tip of her tongue licked him.

She reached around him to untie the waist band at the small of his back. Then she gently tugged his shirt free and lifted it over his head and off.