The Royal Wager: Persuading the Playboy King / Unmasking the Maverick Prince / Daring the Dynamic Sheikh. KRISTI GOLD

his belt, lowered his zipper, then pulled his slacks and briefs down his hips. She kissed him as she explored him, drove him to the edge with hands as fine as velvet. Marc needed to stop her, that much he knew. He needed to put an end to this madness before it was too late. Before they couldn’t stop.

      But it was already too late, so at the very least, he needed to make certain he protected Kate against pregnancy.

      He caught her wrist and brought her hand up, temporarily ending the torture.

      Her eyes narrowed with frustration. “I want this, Marc. So do you.”

      “We should go to the bedroom, Kate.”

      “I don’t want to wait.”

      She wrested from his grasp and fumbled with the buttons on her blouse, then slipped it away along with her bra. Marc wasn’t sure he would make it to the bedroom when Kate stripped out of her skirt and ruined panty hose, then tossed them away. Now she was beautifully naked, and completely his. After tearing off his own shirt and kicking off his slacks, he bent, reached into his pants’ pocket and withdrew the condom he’d brought with him, knowing all along this would probably happen. Hoping all along that it would.

      After he had the condom in place, Kate stretched out on the sofa and held out her arms to him. He gladly eased into her embrace, eased into her body and experienced a freedom he hadn’t known in years. It had nothing to do with the length of time since he’d been in a woman’s arms. It had everything to do with Kate Milner and the hold she had on him. For a moment, the guilt tried to come forth, but he pushed it aside as he put himself at the mercy of nature and his need for Kate.

      Marc moved in a slow cadence at first until the chemistry that had been flowing between them exploded in a wild, reckless rhythm. He slid his hands over Kate’s body as if he could not get enough of the feel of her. She raked her hands down his back and molded them to his buttocks as he drove harder, faster, losing all sense of time and place in pursuit of pleasure. When he felt the first ripples of Kate’s climax, Marc drew one crested nipple into his mouth, sending her over the edge and drawing him farther into her body. Not long after, he joined her with a jolt and a shudder that he couldn’t control any more than he could temper his pounding heart. He regretted it had happened too quickly, had been over too soon. Right now he felt too damn good to ruin the moment with any other regrets.

      They remained twined together in a tangle of limbs, their bare flesh slick with their efforts and their breathing broken and heavy. Marc buried his face in Kate’s hair and savored the feel of her hands stroking his back, their bodies still closely joined. He could stay this way forever and say to hell with the world, to his responsibilities and the problems facing him.

      The shrill of the phone splintered the silence and sent Marc up and away from Kate as if he’d been caught red-handed by the royal court.

      Kate leaned over him to grab the phone from the end table, rubbing her breasts across his chest, eliciting his groan.

      She fumbled for the phone and answered with a breathless, “Hello,” then sent Marc a forlorn look. “Hi, Mary. No, you didn’t interrupt anything. I was just about to take a shower.”

      Marc mouthed, “Do not tell her I’m here,” but realized it was too late when Kate said, “He’s here. We’ve just returned from the inn with my things. He’s about to leave.”

      Marc rose from the sofa, snatched his clothing from the floor and headed to bathroom while Kate told his mother, “If it’s okay, I’m going to get dressed first and take a quick bath. I mean, undressed and take a bath, then I’ll be up to see if I can get her to sleep.”

      Marc was quite up again and doubted he would be sleeping at all.

      After dressing, he returned to Kate and found her wearing only her blouse that came to the tops of her thighs. “Nothing like a fussy baby to interrupt,” she said, looking self-conscious.

      Marc streaked a hand over his nape. “It was a timely interruption, otherwise we might have gone to your bed, and that would have been unwise, considering I only have one condom.”

      She walked to him and circled her arms around his waist. “It would have been wonderful, and the night isn’t over yet, unless you don’t have any more condoms in your room.”

      Held captive by her body molded to his, he slid his hands down her back and palmed her bare bottom. They came together in another earthshattering kiss until reality and regret tunneled their way into Marc’s brain.

      He pulled her arms away and stepped back. “I can’t offer you anything beyond lovemaking, Kate. Not at this point in my life.”

      She lifted her chin a notch. “If you tell me that one more time, I’m going to scream. I don’t expect anything from you, Marc. And I don’t believe you didn’t want this to happen.”

      He’d definitely wanted it, more than he should. “I certainly didn’t want to be king, but that decision has been forced upon me.”

      She looked despondent and Marc wished he could take back his thoughtless words. “Are you saying I forced you to do this?”

      “Of course not, and you should realize that. My only regret involves the chaos my life has become. You do not deserve that.”

      Kate frowned. “Why don’t you let me decide what I do and don’t deserve. And as far as you being king, why don’t you try and concentrate on the good you’re doing?”

      “Sometimes I wonder if I am doing anything right.”

      “You are.” She touched his face with reverence, as if she believed in him. “I know firsthand what it’s like to have people depending on you. My parents are very needy and I couldn’t take it anymore. That’s why I came here, to get away and make my own life.”

      He took her hand and kissed her palm before releasing it. “But I cannot walk away.” At times, he wished he could.

      “No, you can’t, but you can focus on the positive aspects of your power and skills.” She winked and grinned. “I’ve certainly experienced a few.”

      His body lurched back to life. “Kate, you have no idea what you do to me when you make those statements.”

      She ran a slow fingertip down the ridge beneath his fly. “Yes, I do.” She returned to the couch, retrieved the panty hose, balled them up and then tossed them at Marc. “Here’s a little souvenir of our night together, so you don’t forget.”

      As if Marc could really forget something that had been so incredible.

      With a wicked smile, Kate turned and walked down the corridor leading to the bath, leaving Marc holding her ruined panty hose while he clung to his last vestiges of sanity. He recognized it was only a matter of time before they made love again, unless he developed a steel will. He did not foresee that happening, considering he now knew how good it had felt to be inside of her, to be totally lost in her.

      Yet it was Kate’s understanding of the man beneath the king that had begun to appeal to him on a deeper, distinct level beyond carnality. As a king, he feared disappointing his people—and as a man, he feared disappointing Kate. Not when it came to lovemaking; he had always been confident in that regard. They were good together. Damn good. But could he be the man that she needed, the one she would want for all time? And could he give all of himself to her, even the part he had kept hidden from the world? Kept hidden from himself?

      If he made a commitment to explore more than their mutual desire, he would have to follow through, since Kate merited a man who would give her all his attention and consideration. While before he would have rejected that prospect, he was actually beginning to consider all the possibilities—and advantages—of having Kate Milner in his life.

      Seven

      Kate Milner had done the unthinkable. She’d fallen in love with Marc DeLoria all over again.

      Oh, she’d tried to convince herself that all she’d wanted was a little adventure with Marc. For that reason,