His Arranged Marriage by Tina Leonard Page A

wants a woman. Royalty has almost always slept alone, secluded by the crown it wears. I want more.
    “Swim with me, Prince Kadar,” she asked softly. “I would enjoy you teaching me the many things your mother has not yet had time to tell me about The Desert Rose.”
    His gaze stayed on hers for a moment. She stayed under water to her neck, keeping the invitation as sexless as possible.
    “You cannot hide from me,” he told her huskily.
    She blinked at him.
    “I know you are hiding behind a veil of sudden acquiescence.”
    “Do not tear the veil from me, then, my prince, as it is a hard veil for me to wear.”
    “Me, as well. I sense that you have changed the subject from stallions to my mother’s teachings to tell me that you will ride whichever of the horses you choose at any time.”
    “Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head at him, although her gaze did not move from his. “I will ride the mount my husband chooses for me. I am touched by his concern for my safety.”
    He neared her, causing ripples to splash up between them as he clasped her to him, seating her legs around his waist. “I will not give you a tame mount, Serena. I know you would not be content with that. We have enough horses at The Desert Rose that you may choose from many which will take care of the princess I would not wish harmed.”
    Leaning his forehead against hers, he gazed intoher eyes. She felt her prickly pride melt a little, and allowed her arms to ring his neck. “I wanted you to catch me,” she whispered.
    “I have never ridden so hard in my life.”
    A slight smile touched her lips, and then his.
    “It was a prize worth the race,” he told her. “I am impressed with your seat.”
    “I am glad,” she said shyly. “I was afraid you’d be angry.”
    “I was. I am. I will be if you ever pull that stunt again, cowgirl.”
    She leaned her cheek against his. “You have goose pimples along the back of your neck.”
    “You have them on the front of your neck,” he told her, holding her back a bit so that he could examine them. “The water is too cold for you. I can’t let you catch a cold.”
    “I am not cold in your arms.” She pulled away from him, floating onto her back so that the sun’s waning rays would warm her body. “But if you are cold, you do not have to swim with me.”
    He grabbed her, pulling her back to him easily since the water made her lighter than ever. “You are cold,” he said on a growl in her ear. “You are not wearing a bra, and it is plain to see that you are very cold. Why are you not wearing anything under that shirt? Do you want the ranch hands to go nuts?”
    She blushed as he locked her legs back around his waist as they had been before—only this timethere was something hard and rigid in the spot between his legs. “I could not borrow something as personal as underwear,” she confessed. “A brassiere seems quite personal to have to ask for. We left in quite a hurry, and since we were sneaking away, I packed little besides some jewels and makeup. Much more baggage would have been suspect had we been seen. So I only have one brassiere, and it is in the wash.”
    His eyes went intensely dark as his gaze left her eyes, sliding to take in the hard peaks of her nipples clearly lined by the soft, wet material of her shirt.
    “I do not want to disturb the ranch hands, but it would be my pleasure if you found me irresistible,” she confessed. “Perhaps I should never wear a bra.”
    “I will lock you away like a princess in a tower if you do,” Cade warned. “I cannot believe you have been walking around without a bra at The Desert Rose.”
    “American denim is much heavier than anything I wear in the palace. I have not been indiscreet.”
    “No, you have not. I have been…blind.” He touched a palm to her breast, feeling the weight of it in his hand, outlining it with his fingers. “To have treasure like this so close by and not see it crying out to be found—” He broke off,