A Royal Amnesia Scandal(15)

When she didn’t say anything or put the ring on, his nerves spiked. Strange, since he’d obviously already popped the question. Unless she just didn’t like it.

“If you’d rather have something else, I can take it back to the lady and exchange it. When I saw that stone, I remembered something else about you.”

Her eyes widened. “You did?”

A tear slipped down her cheek as she blinked. Luc swiped it away, resting his hand on the side of her face. “I remembered your birthday is in February and that’s your birthstone. I remembered you have this amethyst pendant you’ve worn with gowns to parties at the palace. That pendant would nestle right above your breasts. I used to be jealous of that stone.”

Kate sucked in a breath as another tear fell down her face. “You say things like that to me and I feel like you’ve had feelings for me for longer than I ever imagined.”

Taking the ring from her hand, he slid it onto her left ring finger. “There are many things I don’t remember, but I know this—I’ve wanted you forever, Kate.”

He didn’t give her a chance to respond. Luc enveloped her in his arms, pulled her against him and claimed her mouth. He loved kissing her, loved feeling her lush body against his. Nothing had ever felt this perfect, as far as he could recall. And he was pretty sure if anything had ever felt this good, he’d remember.

Kate’s hands pushed against his shoulders as she broke the kiss. “Wait.”

She turned, coming free from his hold. With her rigid back to him, Luc’s nerves ramped up a level. “Kate, what’s wrong?”

“I want to tell you,” she whispered. “I need to tell you, but I don’t know how much I can safely say without affecting your memory.”

Taking a step toward her, he cupped his hands over her shoulders. “Then don’t say anything. Can’t we just enjoy this moment?”

She turned in his arms, stared up at him and smiled. “I’ve never been happier than I am right now. I just worry what will happen once you remember everything.”

His lips slid across hers. “I’m not thinking of my memory. I only want to make up for what we did this morning.”

A catch in her breath had him pausing. Her eyes locked onto his.

“I want to make love to you properly, Kate.”

Her body shuddered beneath his hands. “I’ve wanted you for so long, Luc.”

Something primal ripped through him at the same time he saw a flash of Kate wearing a fitted skirt suit, bending over her desk to reach papers. He shook off the image. She’d already said she was his assistant, so that flash wasn’t adding anything new to the mix.

Right now he had more pressing matters involving his beautiful fiancée.

“I want you wearing my ring, the weight of my body and nothing else.”

Luc gave the halter tie on her neck a tug, stepping back just enough to have the material floating down over her bare breasts. With a quick yank, he pulled the dress and sent it swishing to the floor around her feet. Next he rid her of her silky pink panties.

With her hair tossed around her shoulders, her mouth swollen from his kisses, Luc simply stared at her, as if taking all this in for the first time.

“Perfect,” he muttered, gliding his hands over her hips and around her waist. “Absolutely perfect and totally mine.”

The breeze from the open patio doors enveloped them. The sunset just on the horizon created an ambience even he couldn’t have bought. And everything about this moment overshadowed all that was wrong in his mind with the amnesia.

Guiding Kate backward, he led her to a chaise. When her legs bumped against the edge, Luc pressed on her shoulders, silently easing her down. Once she lay all spread out for his appreciation, he started tugging off his own clothes. The way her eyes traveled over his body, studying him, did something to his ego he couldn’t explain. He found himself wanting to know what she thought when she looked at him, what she felt. All this was still new to him and he wanted to savor every single moment of their lovemaking.

“I’ve dreamed of this,” he murmured.

Her brows quirked. “Seriously? You don’t think it was a memory of something?”

Luc rested one hand on the back of the chaise, another on the cushion at her hip. As he loomed over her, his body barely brushed the tips of her breasts.

“I’m sure,” he whispered. “You were on my balcony, naked, smiling. Ready for me.”

A cloud of passion filled her eyes as she continued to stare up at him.

“Maybe I had that fantasy when I first looked at this place, or maybe I had that vision since we’ve been here.” He nipped at her collarbone, gliding up her exposed throat. “Either way, you were meant to be here. With me. Only me.”

Kate’s body arched into his as her fingertips trailed up his biceps and rested at his shoulders. “Only you,” she muttered.

Luc eased down, settling between her legs. The moment his lips touched hers, he joined them, slowly taking everything she was willing to give. This all-consuming need he had for her only grew with each passing moment. Kate was in his blood, in his heart. Was it any wonder he wanted to marry her and spend his life with her?

Kate’s fingertips dug into his skin as she rested her forehead against his shoulder. Luc knew from the little pants, the soft moans, that she was on the brink of release.

He kissed her neck, working his way up to that spot behind her ear he already knew was a trigger. Her body clenched around him as she cried out his name. Before she stopped trembling, he was falling over the edge, too, wrapped in the arms of the woman he loved, surrounded by a haze of euphoria that kept away all the ugly worries and doubts.

All that mattered was Kate and their beautiful life together.

* * *

His hand slid over her flat stomach. There was a baby, his baby, growing inside her. He hadn’t thought much about being a father, but the idea warmed something within him.

Dropping to his knees, he kissed her bare stomach. “I love you already,” he whispered.

Luc jerked awake, staring into the darkness. What the hell was that? A memory? Just a random dream? His heart beat so fast, so hard against the wall of his chest. That had been real. The emotions, the feel of her abdomen beneath his palm, had all been real.

Luc wasn’t one to believe in coincidences. That was a memory, but how could it be? Kate wasn’t pregnant. She’d said they hadn’t made love before the shower, so what the hell was that dream about?

Glancing at the woman beside him, Luc rubbed a hand over his face. The sheet was twisted around her bare body, and her hair was spread over the pillow. Luc placed a hand on her midsection and closed his eyes. That dream was so real he’d actually felt it.

Surely it wasn’t just a fantasy of the day he and Kate would be expecting in real life.

He fell back against his pillow, laced his hands behind his head and blinked to adjust his eyesight to the darkened room. No way could he go back to sleep now. There was too much on his mind, too many unanswered questions.

Something involving a baby had happened to cause such a strong flashback, for the second time now. It just didn’t make sense. His mind was obviously the enemy at the moment.

“Luc...”

He turned toward her, only to find her eyes were still closed. She was dreaming, too. Her hand shifted over the sheets as if seeking him out. Instantly, he took hold of her hand and clasped it against his chest. Tomorrow he would have to seek some answers. This waiting around was killing him, because tidbits of his life weren’t enough. He wanted the whole damn picture and he wanted it now.

Maybe if Kate talked about herself, her personal life, that would trigger more memories for him. He was done waiting, done putting his life in this mental prison.

How could he move on with Kate when he couldn’t even remember their lives before a few days ago?





Ten

She should’ve told him. No matter what the doctor said, she should have just told Luc that they weren’t engaged. Everything else he could remember on his own, but the biggest lie of all needed to be brought out into the open.

Of course, now they’d slept together twice, and she still hadn’t said a word.

The heaviness of the ring on her hand wasn’t helping the guilt weighing on her heart, either. Instead of trying to make this right, she’d let every single aspect spin even more out of control.

Stepping from the bathroom, Kate tied the short, silky robe around her waist. As soon as she glanced up, she spotted Luc sitting up in bed, the stark white sheet settled low around his hips. All those tanned, toned muscles, the dark ink scrolling over one shoulder, the dark hair splattering over his pecs. The man exuded sex appeal and authority.

“You needn’t have bothered with that robe if you’re going to keep looking at me like that,” he told her, his voice husky from sleep.

Kate leaned against the door frame to the bathroom. “Did you know you never wanted to marry?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Luc laughed, leaning back against the quilted headboard. “That’s a bit off topic, but no. I didn’t know that.”

Swallowing, Kate pushed forward. “You had no intention of taking a wife, but Ilha Beleza has some ridiculously archaic law that states you must be married by your thirty-fifth birthday in order to succeed to the throne.”