* * *
All her life, Kuni trained alongside the fiercest Royal Guardsmen in her family, secretly planning to become her country’s first Royal Guardswoman. This mission in London is a chance to prove herself worthy without help from a man, not even one as devilishly handsome as Graham. To her surprise, Graham believes in her dream as much as she does, which makes it harder to resist kissing him…and falling in love. But how can she risk her heart if her future lies an ocean away?
Get Yours: Nobody’s Princess
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Sneak Peek
Nobody’s Princess
Graham Wynchester lay next to a row of brightly covered tulips, his body parallel to the ground as he pushed up with his arms and slowly lowered himself back down. Upon sight of Kuni, he started to rise to his feet.
Kuni motioned for him to continue. She was more than familiar with press-up exercises. She sprinted lightly over to him and dropped into position at his side, lowering herself down and pressing back up, keeping time to his rhythm.
His eyes widened in obvious surprise.
“What? You thought the English were the only ones who know how to exercise their muscles in this way?” she asked archly.
“Knowing how to do a thing and actually doing the thing are not at all the same thing,” he answered. “Every person in my household has seen me do this. You’re the first to do it with me.”
She pressed up in silence, proud of her years of training and the strength of her body. Even before she’d been anywhere near the battlefield practice sessions, her brothers would tease her at the drop of a feather to stop whatever she was doing and show them five of these maneuvers with perfect posture. Or ten. Or twenty. She could do over a hundred now without a respite.
Before she was even halfway there, however, Graham sprang to his feet and held out his palm to her.
Ah! She knew what came next in Balcovia. After strength-building was hand-to-hand combat.
She placed her hand in his, gripping tight, then yanked her elbow backwards. Graham’s body jerked towards her in surprise, which was all Kuni needed. She used his forward momentum to tumble him past her and onto the ground on his back. Even as the breath whooshed out of him, she was already dropping atop, her palms flat against his, pinning him beneath her and covering his body with hers.
“W-what?” he managed hoarsely.
“Was hand-to-hand combat not the next step in your routine?” she asked innocently. “That’s how we do it in Balcovia.”
His eyes shone. “I adore Balcovia.”
Graham’s lips were close enough to kiss, not that she would do any such thing. It was enough that her body pressed its full weight scandalously against him.
She should probably roll off and set him free.
Soon.
Any moment now.
Or not. Her limbs were frozen in place. All right, all right, her limbs were anything but frozen. Molten. Her limbs were molten. Her body had melted against him, molded itself to him, melded them into one.
She wasn’t even conscious of the weight of her limbs anymore. He was the life raft supporting her amidst an ocean of green grass and frothy flowers. Despite the danger inherent in pressing one’s curves against a man’s hard body, she felt oddly safe with him.
Perhaps it was more that she wanted to taste a little of this danger. Swordplay and combat practice with the other soldiers had never felt life-or-death, but this…this felt viscerally real. Graham had invited her onto the battlefield, where she had promptly engaged him in battle. What happened next could determine whether they—
He flipped her so swiftly and so easily she did not even register his movement until she found herself pinned beneath him, her spine against the soft grass, her breath vanishing from her lungs in a whoosh powerful enough to rustle the curly black tendrils tumbling over his forehead.
Now it was his body pressing into hers. Wide shoulders, slender hips, muscular thighs—and perhaps a hint of mutual interest pulsing between them.
A proper miss would be shocked right into a swoon.
It was a good thing Kuni wasn’t the least bit proper. She had not only started this, she intended to savor every second of it.
Grab Yours:
Nobody’s Princess
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Boxed Set Collections:
12 Dukes of Christmas (Books 1-4)
12 Dukes of Christmas (Books 5-8)
12 Dukes of Christmas (Books 9-12)
Rogues to Riches (Books 1-3)
Rogues to Riches (Books 4-6)
Dukes of War (Books 1-4)
Dukes of War (Books 5-7)
Gothic Love Stories (Books 1-4)
Gothic Love Stories (Books 3-5)
Magic & Mayhem (Books 1-3)
In order, the 12 Dukes of Christmas:
Once Upon a Duke (FREE!)
Kiss of a Duke
Wish Upon a Duke
Never Say Duke
Dukes, Actually
The Duke’s Bride
The Duke’s Embrace
The Duke’s Desire
Dawn With a Duke
One Night With a Duke
Ten Days With a Duke
Forever Your Duke
Making Merry
The Wild Wynchesters series:
The Governess Gambit (FREE!)
The Duke Heist
The Rake Mistake
The Perks of Loving a Wallflower
Nobody’s Princess
In order, the Rogues to Riches books are:
Lord of Chance (FREE!)
Lord of Pleasure
Lord of Night
Lord of Temptation
Lord of Secrets
Lord of Vice
Lord of the Masquerade
In order, the Dukes of War books are:
The Viscount’s Tempting Minx (FREE!)
The Earl’s Defiant Wallflower
The Captain’s Bluestocking Mistress
The Major’s Faux Fiancée
The Brigadier’s Runaway Bride
The Pirate's Tempting Stowaway
The Duke's Accidental Wife
A Match, Unmasked
All I Want
In order, the Gothic Love Stories are:
Too Wicked to Kiss (FREE!)
Too Sinful to Deny
Too Tempting to Resist
Too Wanton to Wed
Too Brazen to Bite
In order, the Magic & Mayhem books are: