Six Of The Best Of Desire 2016. Maisey Yates

he wanted to really get to know this beautiful, incredible woman. Sure, they’d spent some time together...but there was still so much he could learn about her. That he wanted to learn about her. Everything, not just about her beautiful body, but also about that magnificently brilliant mind of hers.

      Such as why she had chosen a career in the military after growing up as royalty.

      “So tell me about your time in the service. What did you really do?”

      “Just what I told you that day we met.”

      “Truly? Nothing more? Not some secret spy role? Or dark ops career no one can ever know about?”

      “How does the saying go in your country? I could tell you but then I would have to kill you.”

      He laughed softly against her mouth. “As long as we go while naked together, I’ll die a happy man.”

      She swatted his butt playfully, then her smile faded. “Truthfully, there is nothing more to tell. I was a translator and handled some diplomacy meetings.”

      “I admire that about you.” It had been a brave move. A noble, selfless act.

      Shrugging, she tipped her shampooed head back into the water. Erika closed her eyes, clearly enjoying the feel of the steamy water. The suds caught on her curves, drawing his gaze. She was damn sexy.

      “Why are you so dismissive of your service to your country?”

      Eyes flashed open, defensive. He could tell it in the way she chewed on her lip before she answered, “I wanted to be a field medic and go into combat zones. But I was not allowed.”

      He nodded, trying to be sympathetic. To understand the complication of letting a princess, even from defunct royalty, into an active war zone.

      “I can see how your presence could pose a security risk for those around you. You would be quite a high-value captive.”

      Her half smile carried a hint of cynicism. “While that is true, that was not the reason. My parents interfered. They did not want me to work or join at all. They wanted me to marry someone rich and influential, like I was some pawn in a royal chess game from a thousand years ago.”

      “Still, you made your own way. That’s commendable. Why a field nurse and not in a military hospital?” He respected her drive. And her selfless career choices. She wanted to help people. Something told him she would have been a good field medic. Strong, knowledgeable, fearless.

      “I did not want special treatment or protection because of my family’s position. And still, I ended up as a translator not even allowed anywhere near a combat zone.” Her voice took on a new determination. A tenacity he found incredibly attractive.

      “So you made plans to continue your education after your service was finished.” He knew she’d registered for coursework that would begin next month in the UK but had assumed she would ask for her spot to be held until after the children were born.

      “I will not be deterred from my plans because of my family’s interference.” Eyes narrowed at him. Every bit a princess with that haughty stare. “I can support myself.”

      “Of course you can.” He brought his negotiating skills to the conversation, hoping to make her see reason. “This is about more than money, though. You have a lot on your plate. Let me help you and the babies while you return to school.”

      “That makes it sound like I am incapable of taking care of myself the way my parents always said.” Bitterness edged back into her voice. And something that sounded like dulled resignation.

      “This isn’t just about you. Or me. We have children to think of. You know I want you to marry me. I’ve made that clear. But if your answer is still no, at least move in with me. Make this easier for all—”

      She pressed her mouth to his, silencing him until she leaned back, water dripping between them again.

      “Gervais, please, this time is for us to get to know one another better. This kind of pressure from you about the future is counterproductive.”

      One thing was for sure—she had been opening up. Maybe asking her to marry him again was too much too soon. But he could feel the connection between them growing. So he would back off. But not forever. He just had to figure out a way to show her how good they were together. “Then how about we find food?”

      Her smile was so gorgeous the water damn near steamed off his skin. “Food? Now that is music to this pregnant woman’s ears.”

      * * *

      The strands of Erika’s hair fell damp against the cloth of the jersey. They sat in the suite’s kitchen. She was on the countertop, cross-legged, peering over at Gervais’s back.

      He’d retrieved an assortment of ripe fruit—pitted cherries, chocolate-dipped strawberries, pineapple slices and peach slices. At the center of the platter was a bowl of indulgent-looking cream.

      Stomach growling, she looked on in anticipation. He brought it next to her and pulled up a bar stool so that they were eye level.

      Extending her hand to grab a cherry, he stopped her.

      “Let me, Princess.” With a playful smile, he lifted a cherry to her lips. Inside, she felt that now-familiar heat pulse. He was tender, charming.

      A threat to her plan of objectivity, too.

      She popped a chocolate-dipped strawberry into his mouth. He licked the slightly melted chocolate off her fingertips, sending her mind back to the shower. Back to when she had thought this was uncomplicated.

      Needing to take control of the situation, Erika cleared her throat. Her goal was the same as before. To get to know him. “What did you want to be as a little boy growing up?”

      Finishing chewing, he tilted his head to the side. “Interesting question.”

      “How so?” It had seemed like a perfectly reasonable question. One she had been meaning to ask for a while now.

      “Everyone assumes I wanted to be a pro football player.”

      To Erika, Gervais had seemed like the kind of man who wasn’t nearly as cut-and-dried as that. He might live and breathe football, but it didn’t seem as if it was the only dimension to him. Childhood dreams said a lot, after all. She’d wanted to be a shield maiden from long ago. To protect and shelter people. Her adult dream was still along those lines.

      A nurse did such things. “And you did not want to be a football player like the rest of your family?”

      “I enjoy the game. Clearly. I played all through elementary school into high school because I wanted to. I didn’t have to accept the offer to play at the college level. I could afford any education I wanted.”

      “But your childhood dream?” She pressed on, before taking the cream-covered peach slice he’d offered her. She savored the taste of the sweetness of the peach against the salty flavor of his fingers.

      Looking down at his feet, then back at her, he smiled sheepishly. “As a kid, I wanted to drive a garbage truck.”

      Her jaw dropped. Closed. Then opened again as she said, “Am I missing something in translation? You wished to drive a truck that picks up trash?”

      “I did. When my parents argued, I would go outside to hide from the noise. Sometimes it got so loud I had to leave. So I rode my bike to follow the garbage truck. I would watch how that crusher took everyone’s trash and crushed it down to almost nothing. As a kid that sounded very appealing.”

      Thinking of him pedaling full-tilt down the roads as a child put an ache in her heart she couldn’t deny. “I am sorry your parents hurt you that way.”

      “I just want you to understand I take marriage and our children’s happiness seriously.”

      His brown eyes met hers. They were heated with a ferocity she hadn’t seen before.

      This