Free The Royal's American Love by Sophia Lynn

together.”
    “Do you really believe that?” she asked anxiously. She
couldn’t stop herself from hanging on to him, even as she knew it was not good
for her.
    “I do,” Nikolos responded firmly. “I assume that you are
not writing erotica, so this little encounter won’t make it into the article. But
so far? I think you have seen me more clearly than anyone else in the world
has, even the people who have known me far longer. I would hate to lose that
simply because we shared a little pleasure.”
    “A little pleasure…” she echoed dubiously. Was that all it
was?
    “A lot of pleasure,” he amended with a grin. “But truly. I
do not see anything here to be upset about. You are not trying to coerce me
into showing you a side of myself that I don’t want you to see. I am not trying
to seduce you into portraying me in a better light. After that, what else
matters?”
    “Nothing,” she said, and he grinned.
    “Exactly right. If you want to leave, I will not stop you.
I will be saddened and disappointed, but I know that we could continue as if
nothing had happened. Alternately…”
    “Alternately?”
    “Alternately, you could stay. We could enjoy each other
further, and we could sleep together. I think I would greatly enjoy sleeping
with you. In the morning, I suggest we take the day off. Surely even
journalists and ghostwriters take the day off?”
    “I have been known to indulge on occasion,” she said with a
small smile.
    She was shocked by how much better she felt. There was
still a lingering doubt in her mind, but it was easy enough to banish,
especially when she found herself being taken back to bed by the man she had
wanted ever since she’d laid eyes on him.
    As he started to kiss her again, she felt that now-familiar
surge of pleasure pulse through her. There was something wonderfully intimate
about what they were doing, beyond the physical. Even though she had only known
Nikolos for a short time, there was something in her that recognized him,
something that felt him and called him home.
    “You promise that you do not think less of me for this?”
she said.
    He pulled back for a moment to study her. She knew very
well how she looked, flushed with pleasure, her auburn hair tangled and a
longing look in her eyes.
    “You are a gorgeous, intelligent woman who has captured my
gaze and my interest since the moment I saw you. The more time I spend with
you, the more time I want to spend with you. At the end of the day, this is
what I have wanted, and I am incredibly pleased that you are here. I am also
humbled that such a clever and worldly woman wants to spend her time with me. I
would never think less of you for giving in to the pleasure that we can share
together.
    “Perfect answer,” she said with a smile, and she pulled him
to her.
    It wasn’t just a perfect answer, she thought. He was
perfect, and when they were together, what they had was everything she had ever
wanted.

Chapter Five
    Nikolos moved from sleeping to wakefulness quickly when his
phone chimed. For a moment, he had a brief feeling of deja vu, but then when he
looked down to see Marianna curled against him, he realized he had never been in
this emotional place before.
    The feelings he had for this woman were profound. She made
him a better man, he realized, and in many ways, he liked it. The idea that he
wanted to change for her was disturbing in some ways, but at the end of it, he
knew he was drawn to her for that very reason.
    He looked at the text with a frown. It was Philip, and
there was a matter at the palace that required his attention. He supposed it
was fair. He had been putting off this particular issue for some time. Of
course, now he had put it off for so long he had to leave his warm bed and
Marianna to come in first thing on a Saturday morning.
    Nikolos wondered if he could put it off even longer, but he
realized that likely wasn’t an option. The last thing he wanted was for Philip
to show up at his penthouse the