Free An Officer and a Princess by Carla Cassidy

tonight’s strange conversation with Blake Hariman might just be the break they had been waiting for.
    He’d intended to tell Isabel the new development the moment he entered their room, but one look at her sleeping form and he didn’t have the heart to wake her. Morning was soon enough to tell her the news.
    Instead, he took a brief, hot shower, pulled on a pair of shorts, then left the bathroom. He stood just at the foot of the chair, then looked once again at Isabel.
    She slept soundly, her breathing deep and regular. Weariness tugged at Adam’s bones and he stared long and hard at the empty side of the bed.
    They were two adults. She was practically engaged to another man. Surely they could share the bed for a night or two without any dire consequences.
    Before giving himself a chance to think twice, heeased down into the over-soft bed, every muscle in his body thanking him for his choice.
    He was asleep almost before he closed his eyes.
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    Isabel was dreaming. Oh, and what a dream it was. She was dreaming of the warmth of a body spooned around the back of hers, a strong male arm thrown over her shoulder. It was the sweetest of dreams because she could decide whose body was so close to hers, whose arm was around her. And she wanted it to be Adam’s body, Adam’s arm.
    She snuggled deeper into the dream and came fully awake. Her heart instantly worked overtime as she realized it wasn’t a dream at all. It was very, very real.
    Adam was in bed with her and the soft mattress had allowed their bodies to roll together in the middle of the mattress. Had he come to the bed because he was tired of sleeping in the chair, or because of his desire for her?
    She didn’t move, was almost afraid to continue breathing. She didn’t want to wake him, didn’t want to end the moment of intimate closeness.
    Closing her eyes once again, she breathed in the scent of him, wishing she could turn over and he would awaken and make love to her.
    Her cheeks burned at the thought and her heart raced a little faster. She hadn’t made love to anyman, but she knew with certainty that making love to Adam Sinclair would be a beautiful experience.
    She frowned, thinking of the future her father had mapped out for her. King Michael had already made his wishes for his eldest daughter well known. He wanted her to marry Sebastian Lansbury, settle into the role of traditional wife and have lots of royal babies to continue the lineage.
    But Isabel’s brother Nicholas had already had one child, sweet little LeAnn. Surely he and his wife, Rebecca, would have more children…a son that would one day be the crown prince. And if they didn’t have a son, it was possible Dominique’s child would be a boy to continue the Stanbury lineage on the throne.
    Eventually Isabel wanted children, but she didn’t want to have them with Sebastian Lansbury. She certainly didn’t want to marry Sebastian.
    What she wanted was to remain here, in bed with Adam, forever. She could gladly spend a lifetime gazing into his fascinating gray eyes, wrapped in the warmth of his arms.
    But she knew their present physical closeness wasn’t due to any magic of love, but rather to the reality of physics. The mattress was soft, it was only natural their bodies had rolled together in the night.
    It would be nice to believe that, out of want and need, Adam had reached for her in his sleep, butshe knew better than to fall into that particular fantasy.
    In fact, she knew better than to linger in this sleepy embrace, knowing there was no truth in it. Funny how that thought created an odd ache in the bottom of her heart.
    The moment she moved, he awakened and rolled away from her as if she were on fire and he feared spontaneous combustion.
    â€œGood morning,” she said, hoping her face didn’t radiate her dismay at how quickly he’d withdrawn from her.
    â€œâ€˜Morning,” he returned.
    â€œI see you decided