Free An Officer and a Princess by Carla Cassidy Page A

to get smart and make use of the bed.”
    He sat up, the sheet falling away from his naked chest. Isabel’s heart raced a new kind of rhythm. How she wanted to lean forward and stroke her palm down his muscled chest, tangle her fingers in the patch of hair that was just the right amount in the center of his broad chest.
    â€œMy back couldn’t handle another night on that chair,” he said.
    In one smooth movement he got up and out of the bed. “You know what I’d really like to do?” he asked.
    Isabel’s mouth went utterly dry. She certainly knew what she’d like to do. She wanted to grabhold of his hand and pull him back down to the bed with her.
    She wanted him to kiss her until she lost her mind, touch her body until she was weeping with dizzying need, then take her and possess her completely.
    â€œWhat?” she finally managed to ask.
    â€œI want to get out of here.”
    She stared at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”
    â€œI mean, I need to breathe some air other than what’s in this room and what’s in this stinking tavern. Why don’t we get dressed, get some breakfast, then take off for a ride some place in the country? Just for an hour or two. What do you say?”
    Energy positively rolled from him, a coiled energy that filled the room with a dangerous tension.
    â€œOkay,” she agreed.
    A few moments later as she stood beneath the shower, she decided that a drive in the country sounded wonderful. Surely the time away from this room, away from the charade they were playing would make all the crazy thoughts she’d been having about Adam fly right out of her head.
    They walked to their usual café for coffee and croissants, then left the café and walked to where Adam had parked his car on the first night he’d arrived at the King’s Men Tavern.
    Adam was quiet through breakfast and duringtheir drive. The June air drifted into the open car windows, banishing any lingering scent of the pub from Isabel’s mind.
    It was a gorgeous day and Isabel hadn’t realized until this moment how tightly confined their lives had been for the past seven days. They had spent far too many hours cooped up in their tiny room, then enclosed in the smoky, noisy interior of the bar.
    With each mile that passed, Adam seemed to relax. The tension she’d felt rolling from him since the moment he’d opened his eyes that morning disappeared and his fingers beat a faint rhythm on the steering wheel, as if music filled his head.
    â€œBeautiful, isn’t it?” He finally broke the silence and swept a hand out to encompass their surroundings.
    Isabel gazed out the window at the lush, green fields. In the distance a bright blue lake sparkled in the sunshine. Her heart expanded with love, with the joy of her country. “As far as I’m concerned, there is no place prettier than Edenbourg. My father used to tell me it was the precious jewel of the North Sea.”
    She sighed wistfully. “I’d give all the wealth in the Chamber of Riches to hear him say those words again.”
    Adam shot her a curious glance. “I alwaysthought the Chamber of Riches was just a rumor, that it didn’t really exist.”
    â€œIt exists,” Isabel replied. “Although I don’t know its location.” The Chamber of Riches was a secret vault that contained the wealth amassed by the Stanbury monarchy over centuries. “Only the king knows how to get into the Chamber of Riches.”
    They drove a little further, then to Isabel’s surprise, Adam turned down a narrow lane that led to an attractive cottage.
    â€œWhat’s this?” she asked as he parked the car in front of the place.
    A curtain at one of the front windows fluttered and a moment later the front door opened and Nicholas stood on the threshold.
    â€œNicholas!” Isabel flew from the car at the sight of her brother. She hadn’t seen him since