The Lost Princes: Darius, Cassius and Monte. Raye Morgan

have to make a stand or something?

      But maybe not. He still had his jeans on, but his chest was bare. Still, he was fast asleep and completely nonthreatening. She relaxed and went up on one elbow to look at him in a way she hadn’t been able to do before.

      She’d been telling the truth when she’d said she’d never had a serious boyfriend. She’d done some dating in college, but it never seemed to come to much. Most men she’d met had either disappointed or annoyed her in some way. The type of man she attracted never turned out to be the sort of man she thought she wanted in her life.

      So far David hadn’t annoyed her. But he wasn’t trying to hit on her, either. Her mouth quirked as she realized that if his disinterest went on too long, that in itself might get to be annoying.

      “You’re never satisfied,” she accused herself, laughing at the paradox. “Picky, picky, picky.”

      No doubt about it, he was about the most handsome man she’d ever been this close to. She liked the way his lustrous coffee-colored hair fell over his forehead in a sophisticated wave that could only have come from a high-end salon. Then she laughed at herself for even thinking that way. This was no time to dilute her Dallas roots.

      “Hey,” she whispered to herself. “He’s got a good haircut.”

      But the rest of him was purely natural and didn’t depend on any artifice at all. His features were clear and even, his brows smooth, his nose Roman, his chin hard and newly covered with a coat of stubble that only enhanced his manliness. He looked strong and tough, but he also looked like a good guy.

      And then there was the rest of him. He had a build to make any woman’s heart beat a little faster—something between a Greek statue and an Olympic swimmer. His skin was smooth and golden and the tiny hairs that ran down from his beautiful navel gleamed in the lamplight. His jeans were the expensive kind and his shirt was crisp and smooth, despite all it had been through in the day. His hands were beautiful, strong but gentle. She leaned a little closer, taking in his clean, male scent and the heat that rose from his body, feeling a sudden yearning she didn’t really understand. It was tempting to lean down and touch her lips to his skin. She leaned a little closer, fantasizing about doing just that, about touching that belly button with her tongue, about running her hand along those gorgeous muscles.

      Then she looked back up into his face and found his blue eyes wide open and staring right at her.

      “Oh!” she gasped, ready to jump back away from him, but his hand shot out and stopped her.

      “Don’t make any sudden moves,” he whispered. “Cici is stirring.”

      She stayed right where she was, just inches from his face.

      “So,” he said softly, his eyes brimming with laughter. “I guess I caught you checking me out.”

      She gasped again and turned bright red on the spot.

      “I was doing no such thing,” she whispered rather loudly, her eyes huge with outrage.

      “Oh, yes, you were.” He was almost grinning now. “I saw you.”

      “No, I was just…” Her voice faded. She couldn’t think of anything good to pretend she’d been doing.

      “Hey, it’s only human to be interested,” he said softly, still teasing her. “Come on, admit it. You were interested.”

      “I’m not admitting anything,” she whispered back. “You’re not all that wonderful, you know. I mean, you may be tempting, but I can resist you.”

      Somehow that didn’t come out quite the way she’d meant it and she was blushing again. His iron grip on her wrist meant she was trapped staying close. So close, in fact, that she could feel his breath on her cheek. It felt lovely and exciting and her mouth was dry. The laughter in his eyes was gone. Instead something new smoldered in his gaze, something that scared her just a bit. She couldn’t stay here against him like this. She pulled back harder and this time he let her go.

      She swung her legs off the bed and sat up, looking back at him. “I…I think I’ll get up for now,” she said. “I think you should get some sleep and…and…”

      He pulled up and leaned on one elbow, watching her. “I think sleep is going to be hard to find for a while,” he said dryly as Cici began to whimper. “We might as well both get up.”

      She rose and went to the baby and by the time she’d pulled her up and turned back, he was up and putting on his sweater.

      “I’ll go down and get some food,” he said. “I’m sure you’re hungry by now. Fish and chips okay for you?”

      “More fish?” She wrinkled her nose.

      “It’s good for you.” He hesitated. “I could probably find an American hamburger somewhere, if that’s what you want.”

      “No, actually I like fish and chips just fine. As long as the fish isn’t kippers.”

      He grinned. “Don’t worry. They don’t make them that way too often.”

      He left the room and she sighed, feeling a delicious sort of tension leave with him. He’d said it didn’t mean a thing, but she was beginning to think he’d been fooling himself. For her, it was meaning more and more all the time.

      The fish and chips were okay and so was the pint of ale he brought back with them. But now it was time to tend to Cici and hope to convince her to go back to sleep so that they could get some rest, as well. After a half hour of pacing back and forth with a baby softly sobbing against her shoulder, Ayme had a proclamation to make.

      “I’ve decided I’m not going to have any children,” she said with a flourish.

      “Oh.” David looked up from the evening paper he’d picked up with the fish. “Well, it might be best to hold off until you get married.”

      She glared at him. “I’m not going to do that, either.”

      He smiled. “Right.”

      “I’m serious about this,” she insisted. “Babies take over your life. It’s unbelievable how much work they are.”

      “It’s true.” He had some sympathy for her state of mind. He’d been there himself. “They do monopolize all your time. But that doesn’t last forever.”

      “It certainly seems to last forever on the day you’re doing it.”

      He leaned back. “That’s just for the moment. Before you know it, they’re heading out the door with their friends and don’t need you at all anymore.”

      She gave him a long-suffering look. “How long do you have to wait for that lovely day?”

      “It takes a while.”

      “I’d be marking off the days on my calendar.”

      He grinned. “It can be hard, but think of the rewards.”

      “What rewards?”

      Cici stirred in her arms, stretching and making a kitten sound. He watched as Ayme’s fierce look melted.

      “You see?” he said softly.

      She smiled up at him ruefully. “Yeah, but is it all really worth it?”

      He shook his head. How the hell had he become the family practices guru here? Still, she seemed to need some sort of reassurance and he supposed he could do that at least.

      “Once you have one of your own,” he told her, “I think you’ll figure that out for yourself.”

      He rose and took Cici from her, and as he did, he thought of what Monte had told him. He’d thought from the beginning that there was a sense of sorrow lingering in her gaze, something deeper than she was admitting to. Why hadn’t she told him about her parents? She must have a reason. Or maybe, as Monte hinted, it was a sign that he shouldn’t trust her.