‘I think we should swap places for Christmas.’
Jade’s eyebrows shot up her forehead.
‘From now until New Year’s Eve,’ Juno added. ‘I’ll be the new Queen of Monrova and you can be Princess Pauper of Queens.’
CHAPTER ONE
KING LEONARDO DELESSI SEVERO of the Kingdom of Severene was so bored he was on the verge of lapsing into a coma.
Attending official events such as the Monrova Winter Ball were all part of the job description when you were the ruler of a wealthy European country. That and giving pointless speeches, making dull, dignified small talk, wearing uncomfortable uniforms decorated with too much brocade, and hefting around polished ceremonial swords, which you’d been taught how to wield with rapier-sharp accuracy as a boy but had never had a chance to use.
Queen Jade’s financial secretary droned on about the remarkable yield from last year’s rapeseed harvest as Leo imagined whipping out the golden sabre banging against his hip and slicing off the feather in the man’s tricorn hat.
He stifled an impatient sigh.
Where was the Queen?
The woman was close to an hour late for her own Winter Ball.
He liked and respected Monrova’s new monarch. When he’d outlined the benefits of a marriage between them, she had seemed intelligent and engaged, if reserved. She would make him a very suitable wife and joint head of state. Her status and lineage, not to mention her country’s abundant mineral reserves, and their similar dedication to civic duty would make theirs the perfect power partnership in the region—plus eventually provide both their countries with an heir. And she was quite beautiful, objectively speaking. There hadn’t been much of a spark between them—and he had an unfortunate suspicion she might be a virgin. Her father had often talked proudly of his daughter’s ‘respectability’ before he died, which Leo had assumed was a euphemism for not allowing her to date—and since she had assumed the throne there had been no whiff of any romantic entanglements... Except with him—which he knew to be fiction.
Even if he was hoping to make the rumours a reality.
He would have preferred she not be completely chaste, but he had never had a problem satisfying a beautiful woman, so he didn’t see her chronic lack of experience causing too much of a problem once they were wed.
Her tardiness, though, was another matter.
He’d had to exchange more than his fair share of tedious conversation with faceless bureaucrats. And he was starving. His stomach grumbled on cue, the rumble detectable under the tinkle of champagne flutes and the strains of a chamber orchestra in the far corner of the palace antechamber where they were all waiting for the Queen’s late arrival.
He ignored the flushed reaction of the financial secretary to his increasingly demonstrative hunger pains. What did the man expect? He hadn’t had a chance to eat since breakfast due to his full schedule of talks with Monrova’s trade ministers.
Talks that the Queen had chosen not to attend because her advisors had said she needed time to ‘prepare’ for the ball.
If she agreed to become his bride, he would have to make it very clear that delays of this nature would not be tolerated.
A wailing bugle interrupted his internal diatribe, and a royal
courtier appeared on the balcony above the antechamber.
About damn time.
A hush descended over the crowd as Queen Jade appeared.
But as she descended the wide sweeping staircase the strangest thing happened. His breathing became a little ragged.
Weird.
He’d considered her beautiful the last time he’d met her a month or so ago. But he had never noticed how lush her figure was before now. The sensual curves filled out the floor-length silver satin ball gown she wore to perfection, drawing his eye to the gown’s bodice embroidered in gemstones and her generous cleavage.
He dragged his gaze away as his breathing became laboured. Surprised by his reaction.
Her thick chestnut hair had been arranged in an elaborate up do crowned by a diamond tiara. The headdress’s gems glittered in the chandelier light and created a halo that highlighted high cheekbones and the sultry shape of her eyes.
His breath became trapped in his lungs as the satin shimmered, moving sinuously over her voluptuous figure.
Whatever the hell she’d been doing for the last four hours, it had been worth it.
She looked every inch the Queen, but there was something earthy and elemental and much more approachable about her too, which he hadn’t sensed a month ago. Which was even more surprising. He was usually an exceptionally observant man when it came to women. Especially women he intended to marry.