The Royal Affair (The Palmera Royals) Read Online Free PDF Page A

moment, she simply took in surroundings she’d completely ignored the previous evening.
    The room was decorated with wallpaper in a similar shade to the floor, the soft furnishings a combination of blues and pinks, the white-painted furniture all imitation Rococo; it was definitely over the top. Marina couldn’t help but wonder whose taste this was. Surely not Jonas’s. The thought of him enmeshed in such sugary pastels brought a giggle to her lips.
    Outside, the horse neighed, and Marina snapped out of her brain fugue and stepped over to the window. A hazy mist lay over the green pasture, the pale hues of the sun eking through.
    In the distance, she discerned a shadowy figure on horseback riding across the gently undulating landscape. The vision seemed ethereal, the mist swirling around rider and horse, the burgeoning streak of dawn at the rider’s back.
    It was Jonas.
    She leaned closer to the window as if those few inches would afford a better view, and traced his outline across the chilly windowpane. Suddenly, he reined in the horse, then, rounding to the right and with a spurt, they took off again.
    The animal’s strength and beauty were hypnotizing as it raced across the field. Muscles taut, its stride long, precise, the thud of its hooves were a resounding beat against the earth.
    Dressed in jeans and a khaki shirt, he rode bareback, his legs hugging the animal. It was beauty as nature intended. Man and horse, together.
    Then, just as suddenly, he changed direction and came back toward her, closing in on a gate. He spurred the horse on. Faster. Faster. He neared the gate and hunkered down to the horse’s strong back, readying to jump.
    Fear pitted in her belly. It was too high. Too dangerous. She wanted to shout, Don’t! Wait!
    The horse took to the air, pulling its hooves clear of the gate and landing with ease. Marina exhaled her relief and slumped to the cushioned bay window seat. As the horse came to a halt, Jonas dismounted and led his horse up the cobbled drive toward the stables.
    Every now and then, he would stop, brush a hand down the horse’s mane, leaning into the huge beast, seemingly talking to it. She would love to know what words he whispered. Did he say the same words she uttered as she worked with her horses? Whispers of her hopes and dreams, things she would not share with others.
    As suddenly as he appeared from the mist, he drew to a halt and gazed toward her window. Marina slipped back nervously, unsure why she didn’t want him to know she watched him.
    Because you’re lusting after him, that’s why.
    Dear God, she was, and it definitely had to stop. Just as well she was leaving today. Moving away from the window she headed straight to the bathroom. A shower was needed. So you expect to wash that man right out of your hair? She did. She had to.
    Fifteen minutes later, dressed in the only clothes she had with her, Marina headed downstairs to find her bodyguards in the large country-style kitchen, devouring the last of their breakfast. They stood to attention the moment she walked in.
    “Good morning, Your Highness,” they said in unison.
    “Morning.”
    Jacques reached for the coffeepot. “Would you care for coffee?”
    “No, thank you. I think we need to check if the road is clear and get on our way.”
    “Thankfully it is, Your Highness. However…” He hesitated with a nervous cough. “We could have gone last night.”
    “But I thought the road was closed.”
    “It was. Mr. Wilder, however, has a helicopter,” Pierre intervened.
    “A what?”
    “A—”
    “Yes, yes.” Her brain whirred with this new bit of information. “Are you saying we didn’t need to stay?” Jacques nodded. Wilder, you’re in big trouble. “The conniving, manipulating hunk.” Marina caught the speculative glances of her bodyguards and clammed up.
    Just then, the door opened and Jonas strode in. A sheen of perspiration slicked his bare torso, the shirt he’d worn loose now held in one hand.
    He