Page 74 of Her Royal Houseguest

She heard him curse in Siamese and he quickly stepped behind her to help her. Within moments, they were both appropriately attired. That is, they looked quite proper if no one looked at their pale faces and panicked eyes.

How could she say something so stupid? Why would she…?

Because she was in love. He was the only man to see her without the taint of a curse. Indeed, he said there was no curse. He’d talked with her openly. They’d had such conversations about his childhood in Siam and hers in England. And he made her feel so many things. Not just sexual things but expansive things. With him, she didn’t feel backwards. With him, she thought about a world so very different than her own.

Talk about stupid!

Expansive feelings were not the basis of a royal marriage. She knew that! God, she was an idiot!

He cupped her face. The feel of his hands, so large and gentle, startled her out of her self-loathing. Her breath caught as she looked into his eyes.

‘Sweet Anna,’ he said. The words were half worship, half regret. She knew he was going to deny their possible marriage but warmth suffused her, nonetheless. How could she look into his eyes, see the adoration in them and not feel blessed?

He did like her. Maybe not as full a feeling as she had for him but he did care for her.

‘It’s all right,’ she said to him. ‘I know you can’t marry me.’

‘I proposed to you before.’

He had. But she had rudely refused him. And now after they had done…so much. Now, he didn’t want her?

‘I… I need to think,’ he said.

She shook her head. ‘No thinking. No apology. No…’ Her voice broke on that last word but she persevered. ‘No marriage. You’re a prince, I’m—’

‘The daughter of an English duke. Marriage is possible but… There are considerations.’

‘Like what?’

He took hold of her hands. ‘Before I was thinking of political alliance. Now I think about you.’

She nodded, not knowing what he meant.

‘Do you know what it means to live in the Siamese court? You would be first wife to a prince. You would have to manage a palace and face down the harem.’

She swallowed. She hadn’t even thought about life in Siam.

‘The harem is often cruel.’ He sighed as he pressed his forehead to hers. ‘You do not even speak Siamese.’

No, she didn’t. She couldn’t manage a household in England, how would she function in a foreign country?

‘I wasn’t thinking,’ she whispered.

He tilted her head up to look into his eyes. ‘We were feeling.’

‘Yes. Such feelings.’

‘Wonderful, sweet feelings,’ he echoed.

Then he kissed her. The press of their lips was tender, the exploration slow. They clung lip to lip, body to body but in the end, they both drew back. They stepped away, though their eyes lingered on one another.

She swallowed. ‘You don’t want to marry me.’ The truth of it hit her as she said it. ‘I’m a disaster here. I would be a complete mess in Siam.’

‘I would help you.’

‘A wife is supposed to help her husband.’ She wanted to help him but she would be an anchor around his neck.

He frowned. ‘You wouldn’t even try?’