To Claim His Heir by Christmas
From heaven to hell…Princess Luciana of Arunthia once experienced heaven in the arms of a man whose every touch felt like paradise. But when Thane was revealed as Prince of Galancia – her kingdom’s greatest enemy – she fled, carrying his child!… and back again?Now, as Christmas approaches, the Prince is determined to win Luciana back and get the greatest gift of all: a beautiful queen and an heir!
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‘I have to go home today. I have to go back to Arunthia and I need you to take me—as you promised.’
He sat up in one lithe, rippling movement, like a panther uncurling, and pushed his tousled hair back from his forehead. ‘No, Luciana, don’t say that.’ His husky, lethargic voice grew stronger, firmer. ‘You belong here with me. There’s no reason for you to go back.’
Luciana swallowed around the searing burn in her throat. ‘But there is, Thane. Someone is there that I can’t leave. Ever.’
His expression darkened and she felt a frisson of fear. Flinched when he suddenly ripped the sheet from his body, vaulted from the bed and spun on her.
‘You love this person?’
‘Yes,’ she said, her voice cracking under pressure. ‘I love him more than life itself.’
His eyes grew furious, dark as rain-laden thunderclouds. And she knew it was only going to get worse. This, she realised, was merely the beginning. God help her.
‘Who do you love?’ he demanded.
You can do this, Luciana. For him—for your son. Thane will rip your heart from your chest but this is not about you. It is about the little boy you love and his father. You are doing it for them. They deserve this from you. Do it. Do it.
‘Please don’t hate me, Thane,’ she whispered, begging him. ‘I was only trying to do the right thing. I was scared. I only wanted him to be safe—’
His beauty took on a terrifying dangerous edge. ‘Who, Luciana?’ He flung his arms wide. ‘Who do you love?’
‘Our son.’
VICTORIA PARKER’s first love was a dashing heroic fox named Robin Hood. Then came the powerful, suave Mr Darcy, Lady Chatterley’s rugged Lover—the list goes on. Thinking she must be an unfaithful sort of girl, but ever the optimist, she relentlessly pursued her Mr Literary Right, eventually found him lying between the cool crisp sheets of a Mills & Boon® and her obsession was born.
If only real life was just as easy …
Alas, against the advice of her beloved English teacher to cultivate her writer’s muse, she chased the corporate dream and acquired various uninspiring job-titles and a flesh-and-blood hero before she surrendered to that persistent voice and penned her first Mills & Boon>® romance. Turns out creating havoc for feisty heroines and devilish heroes truly is the best job in the world.
Victoria now lives out her own happy-ever-after in the north-east of England, with her alpha exec and their two children—a masterly charmer in the making and, apparently, the next Disney Princess. Believing sleep is highly overrated, she often writes until three a.m., ignores the housework (much to her husband’s dismay) and still loves nothing more than getting cosy with a romance novel. In her spare time she enjoys dabbling with interior design, discovering far-flung destinations and getting into mischief with her rather wonderful extended family.
To ADP. I thank the fates for you every day.
To my fabulous editor, Kathryn Cheshire, who suffered through the initial drafts with endless patience and compassion as I stumbled through a dark time in my life. I’m so very grateful for your insight, your understanding and most of all, your faith in me. The day I hold this book in my hand, I shall only think of how you made it bigger, better, so much stronger. Thank you. For everything.
And finally to my readers. Especially those of you who wrote and asked me to pen another Arunthian tale. I hope you enjoy Luciana and Thane’s story and as promised, you’ll get to say hi to Claudia and Lucas along the way.
Contents
HE WAS GOING to propose. Any minute now.
It was every little girl’s dream. A handsome man, one of the most beautiful she’d ever seen, sat opposite her at an intimate table for two, with a velvet box nestled in his inside pocket. Aristocracy, no less. The suave Savile Row sophisticate who was Viscount Augustus. The man who’d set the scene so superbly.
Dimly lit chandeliers cast a seductive romantic ambience throughout the room of the critically acclaimed restaurant, where Michelin chefs were famous for creating masterpieces of haute cuisine. Open fires crackled and crystal tinkled as exorbitantly priced champagne flowed, poured into flutes in an amber rush of opulent effervescence. And beyond the wide plate-glass windows lay the majestic vista of the Tarentaise Valley—Savoie, bathing in the rose-pink wash of dusk, its white-capped mountains towering from the earth like watchful sentinels over the exclusive lavish ski resort of Pur Luxe.
Stunning. Awe-inspiring. The stage was set.
All that was left were the words.
And Princess Luciana Valentia Thyssen Verbault was paralysed with dread.
Please, God, please get me out of this somehow…
There is no way out, Luce. Not only do you have a duty to your people but a deal is a deal. And you made one with the devil himself.
