Guarding His Royal Bride. C.J. Miller

      Demetrius couldn’t give Iliana time to think. He was banking on her agreeing to marry him immediately. Sated by the passion and excitement of their encounter, she’d fallen asleep beneath him. He extracted himself from her. After cleaning himself up in the bathroom, he dressed.

      He could read her. She wasn’t a poker player. She was falling for him. He reached into his bedside table and brought out the gray-and-black marble ring box. He’d had the ring commissioned earlier that week and sized to her finger. She’d left a ring on her desk once and he’d traced it onto a piece of paper when her back was turned. She wouldn’t want to be proposed to in bed. She’d want a story to tell her cousin and her friends.

      He slipped the engagement ring into his pocket. This would happen today. By tomorrow, she would be his wife and he would have what he needed to complete his plan.

      He picked up his dress shirt from the floor and carried it to the bed. Sweeping her red hair to the side, he kissed her cheek. “Iliana? I want to show you something.”

      She mumbled into the pillow. Into his pillow. That pleased him enormously. He rarely allowed women into his bedroom. Come to think of it, Iliana was the first. The first and the last. She moved down into the blankets, her red hair spread across his sheets, the fabric showcasing the silhouette of her lithe body.

      “This will only take a moment. It can’t wait.”

      She sat up, pushing her hair back. “Why do I have to get up now?”

      He slipped his shirt over her slim shoulders. For the sake of decency, he buttoned the middle buttons. She looked good. She would be a good wife—of that he was certain. “I have something to show you.”

      “Interesting that you want to dress me,” she said.

      “I don’t like the idea of my staff seeing you naked.”

      Though his staff members would not utter a word about anything they saw in the house, especially in his private wing, he was protective of Iliana. He didn’t want to share her in any way.

      She pulled on her underwear, the green pair, and her slacks. She left her feet bare.

      Demetrius led her outside into the garden. It needed attention, but that task had fallen behind more pressing matters. His private garden was still tended to perfection. He unlocked the green wooden gate. He had refinished the gate himself, sanded it, painted it and rehung it. Though he could have asked someone on his staff to handle the matter, physical labor helped him clear his mind after hours of meetings. The high stone walls around the garden provided the privacy he craved.

      He held the door for her, and she stepped inside and gasped.

      “What is this place?” she asked.

      “My garden. I work here in my spare time.” A source of pride and enjoyment for him.

      He took pleasure in watching her walk up and down the paths. Solar lights illuminated the rows of plants and shrubbery. He walked behind her, not wanting to rush her. The timing had to be right. Much was riding on this proposal.

      She had said she wanted to be swept away. He had to give her what she needed. Having her in his bed had been every bit the sublime experience he had imagined. She was responsive and active and made the most fantastic noises when she came.

      “I wouldn’t have guessed you would spend time on a garden,” Iliana said.

      A solitary activity that involved using his hands. In that way, it was ideal. “It’s a productive garden. I grow food here for myself and my staff.” Growing up poor, he, his brother and his mother had kept a garden, eating what they could, selling produce to neighbors. Their poverty had made Demetrius resourceful. He and his brother had often made sacrifices for each other and their mother.

      She smiled. “I would expect nothing less.”

      He didn’t want to talk about himself or his childhood. Iliana had been raised by perfectly warm and loving parents. His experiences had been different. “Looking at you takes my breath away.”

      She lowered her head, but he saw the blush on her cheeks. “You’re embarrassing me.”

      “We are alone here. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. I’ve made how I feel about you clear.”

      She stepped closer, and his hands greedily reached for her.

      “You fascinate me,” she said.

      That he had captured Iliana’s interest for even this long felt like an accomplishment. Demetrius planned everything in his life. Everything. He did nothing without thinking, considering and weighing his options. But he didn’t know exactly what he would say to win her over or how he would say it. He went with what felt right.

      He fell to his knee in front of this beautiful, captivating woman. He took her hands in his. He kissed her wrists and then held her left hand, threading their fingers.

      Why did he feel emotional about this? This was a calculated, crucial part of his plan, yet he was caught up in it and in her. “Iliana, I have been enchanted with you from the moment we first spoke. I admire your fire and passion for life. You’ve come to mean so much to me.”

      He removed the ring from his pocket and held it for her to see. She gasped and brought her hands to her mouth. He reached for her hands again, putting them in his where they belonged. “Iliana, will you be there for me in the ways that matter? Will you sleep in my bed and wake beside me in the morning? Will you be my friend and my lover and my confidante? Will you be my wife?”

      Surprise registered on her face. “Why me? We don’t know each other.”

      He shook his head. “I know everything I need to know about you. There won’t be another in my life who means to me what you do.”

      She brought her hands to her mouth and then threw herself into his arms. He wrapped them around her. She kissed his cheek. “Yes, yes, I will marry you.” Tears ran down her face.

      He slipped the ring on her finger. “Tonight. We marry tonight.”

      Her smile faltered. “Tonight? Are you serious?”

      “I cannot wait another day to have you as my wife.”

      She stared at him. “You are serious.”

      “Of course. I will not joke about our marriage.”

      “But I have plans for my wedding. I want Serena to be there. And Casimir. I wanted to wear a special dress and carry lilies.”

      If he gave her too much time to think about it, she could change her mind. The chess pieces could shift, rendering his position weaker. He had to marry her now, before she knew more about his plans and her future. “My Iliana, you will have everything you wish for your wedding. A few phone calls will make it so.” He had a country of wedding planners, florists and dressmakers at his disposal. He would do what was needed to get her to the altar. If she wanted the wedding of her dreams, so be it.

      She nodded and seemed to be half convinced. “I need to call Serena, then.”

      Demetrius remained calm. The queen could talk her cousin out of this arrangement. Had he convinced Serena that his intentions were good? Casimir was his brother on the battlefield, but Demetrius hadn’t shared with him the reasons why Iliana was critical or why he needed to marry her. Demetrius’s biological brother needed his help, and nothing would stop him from providing it. “Please do. I will contact our event planner and have her come to the house immediately.”

      Pleased that this part of his plan had worked, he felt unsettled by the unfamiliar sensation of warmth that spread over him. Iliana would be his wife, and he would respect and honor her. But had he come to care for her? That had not been part of the plan.

      * * *

      Serena rushed to Iliana, hugging her close, a challenge with her ever-growing pregnant belly. Serena was expecting twins in five months. “Iliana, are you sure about this? This seems so sudden.”