The Royal's American Love by Sophia Lynn Page A

those things.
    She threw her arms around him, kissing him with the fervor
she’d been hiding for a full week. She didn’t care if he saw the truth of her.
She was open for him. She needed him. The pleasure of being in his arms swamped
her senses, making her feel light-headed.
    His mouth ravished hers, then it moved to her neck and to
the tender spot behind her ear. She clung to him because suddenly it seemed as
if he were the only safe and stable point in the world. There was nothing she
wanted more than him.
    Somehow, he was the one who was able to hear the footsteps
coming.
    With a muffled curse, he pulled back from her, swiping at
his mouth to remove any traces of her lipstick and straightening her dress with
his free hand.
    When the library director poked his head in, He saw only
that they were examining the book in the case, exclaiming over its size.
    “Oh, that is our special beauty,” he said with a beam.
    Oh, oh no, please don’t come in here ,Marianna
thought desperately, and of course, he did just that.
    “This is a text that dates back to the tenth century. The
work is all done by hand, of course, but what is truly exceptional is the
subject.”
    “It said it was the biography of a king,” Marianna said, in
an attempt to hurry the older man up, and he beamed at her.
    “Yes, but not quite. In fact, it was a story that was made
up by the king and his favorite wife. It told of his life as it never happened,
and portions of it were passed down to become fairy tales in their own right.
This was the story that they wove together over the span of his twenty years on
the throne. If you look very carefully, you will be able to see the gilt edges
and the fine embossing that was done on the leather before it wore away. It’s
quite a gorgeous example of both Byzantine craftsmanship and original
creativity that marked the reign of…”
    “Oh, director, there you are!”
    Marianna was relieved when an older woman entered the room,
waving the director down. He looked a little displeased to have lost his
audience, but as soon as he was gone, Nikolos grinned. It was a dangerous kind
of grin, one that made her blood sing.
    She had known that tonight would not be an ordinary night.
One way or another, things were going to change, and she knew that she needed
to embrace it.
    “So?” he asked.
    “So?”
    “So do you want to stay here and possibly be found by the
director again, or do you want to come home with me?”
    Marianna knew what her answer was going to be, but she
couldn’t resist drawing her response out just a little longer, adding a little
more anticipation to the wait. Opal had often said it was better to travel
hopefully than to arrive, and though she didn’t quite believe the old star, she
could see why she might say it now.
    “And what we would do at your home, Nikolos?” she asked,
her breath light and fast.
    For a moment, it looked like Nikolos was going to take her
in his arms again, but then he stopped, a slight smile on his face.
    “That’s something that we can decide together, but I do
have a few ideas,” he drawled.
    “You do?”
    “Yes. It starts with me undressing you until I can see all
of that beautiful pale skin that I know you have. It starts with me kissing you
until you can barely stand it anymore. It starts with me moving over you so
that we can feel every part of each other.”
    Marianna swallowed hard.
    “And that’s just for a start, is it?”
    He nodded, and his eyes were never so bright.
    “So what do you think?” he asked, and she didn’t have it in
herself to resist any longer, if she had ever been resisting at all.
    “I think we should leave. Right now.”
    He laughed, but before they left the room, he kissed her
lightly on the mouth. She almost melted into him, but footsteps in the corridor
pulled them apart.
    “Oh, are you both leaving so soon?” asked the disappointed
director. “I wanted to show you some of the artifacts we have that are related
to this