Her Royal Bodyguard is book #2 in my Her Royal Romance series, and it is now live at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It should soon be available at Apple and Kobo as well. This was a fun book to write and researching all the beautiful images of the Tuscany area of Italy made me hope to go there some time.
Her Royal Bodyguard
Her Royal Romance book #2
After almost getting kidnapped, Princess Angelina is swept away by royal bodyguard Rico Santori to a small, secluded village for her protection. Always the good girl, the obedient daughter, the proper princess, Angie’s tired of putting her own desires – her own life! – on hold. She could have been killed in the kidnapping attempt and never known the ecstasy of making love with a passionate man. Angelina has had a crush on the strong, loyal Rico for years and while they hide out, pretending to be a newlywed couple, she decides to practice her seductive skills on him.
This is Rico’s last job for the royal family. He’s leaving to build his own life, opening his own security firm. Angie is smart and pretty but she’s royalty and he’s just the hired muscle. But as the days go by, her attempts at seduction try the calm patience he’s known for. He warns her they can only share a bed until he returns her safely to the palace.
But when danger strikes again, it may be too late to explore the love they never expected to find.
Excerpt:
What if she’d been killed in the kidnapping attempt tonight? Without thinking, she reached out and placed her hand on Rico’s wrist, his skin warm and alive to her touch. She’d spent her entire life being the good girl, the proper princess. What if she’d died tonight and never knew the pleasure shared between a man and a woman? What if she’d never had a chance to touch a man like this?
Rico glanced at her touch, then quickly turned his attention back to the road. He braked quickly when a small animal dashed across the road in front of them. Angelina knew she shouldn’t distract him, but she couldn’t take her hand away.
“What is it, Your Highness?”
“You can’t call me that when we reach Tuscora,” she said softly.
“Call you what?”
“Your Highness. You’re going to have to call me by my name.” She wanted to hear her name in that deep tone, coming from those lips.
“I can’t call you that, either,” he said wryly. “Everyone knows the princess’s name.”
“Oh. Of course, you are right.” She realized she still had her hand on his wrist and she reluctantly pulled away and dropped her hand into her lap.
“What are your other names?” Rico asked. “You must have several.”
“Yes. Two more. Concetta for my mother, but using the Queen’s name would not be a good idea, either. The other is Lucia, for my maternal grandmother. It is not as well-know, I am certain.”
“Lucia. Graceful light. Yes, I will call you Lucia.”
Foolishly, she thought that name sounded just as wonderful when he said it out loud. “How did we meet?” she asked next.
“What?”
Men were clueless about some things. Like romance. Angelina had spent her life studying romance from afar. From books. Movies.
“People will ask. Your aunt will ask even if your uncle will not. We need a story of how we met.”
“You make up a story then,” he grumbled.
“All right. I work in a small bakery nearby,” Angelina said, remembering the story Mia told her of how the future queen of Stagatland was working in her father’s bakery when she met the handsome prince who was now king. “You stopped into the bakery every morning and we began to share little looks. Small smiles.”
She thought she saw a small smile on Rico’s lips but it was still too dark to tell for certain. “What do I buy?”
“Biscotti, of course. You like to nibble on them with your coffee.”
“I nibble?” The amusement was clear in his voice. Then, a little more sharply, he asked, “How do you know I drink coffee?”
“I see you and Vittorio with your steaming cups of coffee every morning. Don’t change the subject.”
“All right. I came into the bakery all the time to buy biscotti.”
“And to flirt with me.”
“Of course.”
“Where did we go on our first date?”
She smiled at Rico’s groan. “We have to know where we went on our first date?” he asked.
“Of course. Another question your aunt is certain to ask.”
“Your Highness…”
“Lucia.”
“Lucia. Right…”
He was so clearly out of his comfort zone it made Angelina smile again. “If you walked into the bakery one morning, after weeks of veiled glances and little smiles, and you desired to see me away from my usual surroundings, to spend time together with no one else but you and me, where would you want to take me?”
“I would take you for a drive, like I am right now,” he said immediately. “It is difficult to find time alone otherwise. There seem to be people everywhere.”
“Yes,” she agreed. Especially at the palace. There was no privacy there. So Rico felt it too. She wished for the sunrise so she could see his expression. “All right, you took me for a drive and we talked for hours.”
“Talked? For hours?”
“When you find your soul mate, hours fly by as you get to know each other.” So she’d heard. So she’d dreamed.
“Soul mates.”
“Are you going to repeat everything I say like a parrot?”
The sky must have been lightening because she was certain he narrowed his eyes as he looked at her.
“If you want people to believe that we fell in love and married quickly, we have to convince them that we are soul mates.”
“Your Highness…”
“Lucia,” she reminded him. “Are you certain you are the head of our security force? Have you never been undercover before?”
“This is not quite working undercover.”
“That’s right. It is I who am undercover. Still, you need to remember our cover story.”
“I fear you watch too many movies.”
What else did she have to do on lonely evenings? “How did you propose to me?” She glanced down to her hand. “And where is my ring? If we’re married, I must have a ring.”
Find it now on Amazon
Find it now on B&N
And if you want to read book #1, Her Royal Masquerade:
Find it now on Amazon
Find it now on B&N
Find it now on Apple
Find it now on Kobo
Natasha
www.natashamoore.com
2 comments:
Congratulations on new release. Love the excerpt.
Thanks, Victoria! :)
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