His Pregnant Princess Read Online Free PDF Page B

The man I can laugh with and cry with. You’re all of those things. You were all of those things before you ever became my lover or the father of my baby and now you’re those things, too. All that’s left for you to be is the man who loves me.”
    “I can’t,” he bit out.
    “Why not? Because your first marriage was so hard?”
    “No,” he said, getting out of bed and pacing, completely unconcerned with his nudity. “My first marriage was so hard because of you. Because you filled my days and my nights, because when I wasn’t with you, I was worried about you. Because I couldn’t fathom even taking a honeymoon for fear that someone else would be left in charge of you and that they wouldn’t keep you safe the way that I would.”
    “I didn’t know.”
    “Well, now you do. Because I was there that day. I saw that man pointing a gun at you. And I couldn’t even think of doing anything but stepping in front of that bullet. There was no other thought. There was no waiting to see if your personal bodyguard would notice. Protecting you is my life.”
    “But do you love me?”
    “I would—I will—die for you, Alys. I don’t know what you want to call that. Call it duty if you wish. Call it... Call it something else. But that’s what it is. That is what I feel. And it’s the best I can do.”
    “And you think you can’t protect me while being my husband?”
    “I have learned that I cannot have a life that extends outside of protecting you. It doesn’t work.”
    “And what of my life, Liam? What of me? And your child? You’ll just...stand by and protect me while I marry another man? While that man raises your child? While I have other children with him—children that should be yours—and share a bed that should be ours with someone I don’t even want?”
    “You will learn to love him,” he said, his voice rough.
    “I didn’t have to learn to love you. My love for you grew in me, even when I tried to stop it. Like a stubborn, flowering weed in the middle of a carefully groomed lawn. One that couldn’t be cut down or snuffed out because the roots have gone too deep. And I know it’s out of place, and wild when everything is so contained, but I don’t even care. I’ve let it take hold, because I want nothing else. I want you. Forever. I want you to marry me. Marry me, Liam, please.”
    He froze. “You know that’s impossible. There is the chance you will lose your place on the throne.”
    “Only the chance,” she said. “And I’m sure I can make my father see. I am having your child.”
    “But the chance is too great.”
    “No, it’s not too great.”
    “And how will I protect you? How will I protect the baby? I can’t be both. I can’t do both,” he said, his voice ragged.
    “Why not? What better way to protect me than to sleep beside me every night?”
    “I cannot be a royal, Alys. I cannot ride in a car with you while other men are out there watching for your safety. I cannot put on a tux while other men put on bulletproof vests. Because that’s the danger there is. And it’s a danger you’re not supposed to have to deal with. I bear the burden so that you’re relieved of it—that’s the idea. That I pay attention to all possible dangers so you never have to feel a moment of paranoia.”
    “You forget something,” she said, her voice soft. “You forget that the day you took a bullet for me, I was there. That I am well aware it was meant for me. That even though I wasn’t hit, I appreciate it all for what it was. An attempt on my life. A show of the danger I face in this world. I know it, and I choose not to dwell on it.”
    “Because I am behind you,” he said. “I dwell on it so you don’t have to. And it’s even more important now.”
    “So you’re scared for me? That’s it?”
    “Yes.”
    “And because of that you have to say no?”
    “Yes,” he said, his tone vehement.
    Pain stabbed at her, her heart tearing into pieces. “What if I said I don’t