Chapter 14
“I am not mad at you.” He was not mad at her in the least. Instead, he was stunned at her revelation that she had known who he was from almost the moment she’d met him.
She’d realized he was a prince, and she had not tried to impress him, had not groveled, had not catered to his every whim, had not given him whatever he wanted, had not allowed him to order her around.
Simply put, she hadn’t changed who she was because of his royalty. She had been utterly and completely herself while knowing this whole time who he was.
The very thought almost made him weak. Was he relieved? He certainly was flabbergasted. No one had ever treated him as a normal person and an equal, not if they knew he was a prince. Not until Emberly McQuaid.
Even when the attraction between them had flared to life a few times, she had never once pressured him for more in their relationship so that she could further herself—unlike other women he’d dated.
She had kept the boundaries between them high, not even hinting that she would like more because she was enamored by the possibility of a royal life.
Was that because she was opposed to it? Maybe she didn’t want to be in a relationship with a prince. Maybe she couldn’t see herself becoming a future queen. Maybe she had no desire to walk into a way of life so foreign to her own.
A strange sense of panic began to swell inside him.
He could no longer deny what had been simmering inside him all day since his conversation with T.W.
that morning. He wanted Emberly. More than he’d ever wanted any other woman, even more than Ava.
In fact, what he felt for Emberly could not even begin to compare.
It went far beyond that long-ago teenage relationship—so much so that he wasn’t sure what he’d felt with Ava could even be considered love.
Love?
Yes, indeed.
He shifted so that he was facing Emberly squarely. Her upturned face was wreathed with worry lines, and her brown eyes welled with frustration.
“Something’s wrong,” she whispered. “I don’t want things to change between us just because our secrets are out in the open.”
With her hand still upon his cheek, he lifted his hand to her face and gently grazed her cheek. “Things must change.”
She leaned into his touch. “No.”
What other woman would ever tell him no? Not a single one that he’d ever known. “Oh good heavens, I love you.” The words came out a growl.
From the other room, Braun tsked happily.
At the same time, Emberly pulled back, her eyes rounding, her lashes fanning out, her beautiful features utterly confused. “What?”
He had not meant to say the words at that precise moment, but now that his declaration was out, he knew it was utterly true. He had fallen in love with this woman. T.W. had already noticed it and acknowledged it. And he had also given Max his blessing to pursue Emberly.
The truth was that he loved Emberly and wanted her in his life forever.
He lifted his other hand so that he was framing her face. “I have fallen in love with you.”
She searched his eyes, as though she could not quite believe him.
“I have never loved a woman the way I love you.”
He was moving fast. But T.W. had also been right about the timing of love.
Max was old enough to know what he wanted and to know love when it came his way.
Emberly might not be at the same place yet, but he could win her with the kind of unconditional love she had been talking about and that T.W. exemplified.
“You do not need to reciprocate right now,” he whispered. “But I will win you—”
She lifted on her toes and pressed her lips to his, cutting him off. There was no hesitancy on her part. She leaned in and meshed her mouth with his, hard and demanding and full of her yearning.
He could do nothing less than meet her kiss for kiss, bending in and mingling his mouth with hers in return, letting her lead as desire rushed in to swamp him, crashing over him and drowning him all in one move.
With each touch of his lips to hers, he wanted her to know how much he loved her. He adored everything about her and knew that if he searched the whole world over, he would never find another woman who fit with him the way Emberly did.
The truth was, he had searched near and far for the right woman, and he had failed at every turn . . . until now. She was beyond perfect for him, and he could not let her get away. He had to marry her.
He was getting ahead of himself. After all, he had just declared his love to her. He could not bring up marriage and scare her away.
Her arms slid up to behind his neck, and in the same motion, she drew closer so that her body was pressed against his. At the warmth and softness and curves, a moan reverberated in his throat, and he dropped his hands, sliding his arms around her so that he could hold her more fully.
He rested his hands at the small of her back and had to stop himself from letting his hands roam free.
He loved her enough that he did not want to take advantage of their being stranded together and stuck in the cabin.
He needed to end the kiss before it awoke in him strong desires that should stay dormant for the night.
With a self-control he’d cultivated over the years, he gentled his mouth against hers, tasting her sweetness slowly and languidly, hungry for all of her but reminding himself that she was so much more than her body and kisses, and she deserved to be cherished.
As he ended the kiss, he shifted his mouth to her forehead and pressed a kiss there. Her arms around him only tightened. That was a good sign, was it not? She had not only initiated the kiss, but she also did not want it to end.
“I love you, darling,” he whispered before kissing her forehead again.
Her fingers fisted in his shirt at his back.
A hot spear sliced into his gut. Oh yes, the desire between them was certainly strong.
“Max,” she whispered, then she buried her face against his chest. “What is happening here between us?”
Was she worried that he would pressure her for more tonight?
He took a step back so that he could look down into her face.
Her cheeks were flushed, her lashes halfway down, and her lips still swollen.
Once again heat seared him, and he couldn’t keep from tightening his grip on her hips. He wanted to pull her flush again and ravage her lips with another kiss. She was so beautiful, and more so because of all the things he loved about her.
“We shared a kiss,” he whispered, keeping her at arm’s length. “And that is all we shall share tonight. I vow it.”
Her eyes widened, revealing the rich, silky brown that had the power to undo him and make him forget about everything else. “But what does the kiss mean to you? What can it mean? I just don’t know where this can go.”
“What does it mean to me? Where can it go?” Should he be completely honest with her, even if his honesty scared her away?
“We live in two different worlds,” she continued, “have two different lives—”
“I want to marry you.”
Another happy tsk came from the other side of the wall. Apparently, Braun approved of his bumbling efforts at winning Emberly.
Emberly, on the other hand, was studying his face again, this time with eyes narrowing in disbelief. She gave a huff, then pushed at his chest and took a large step back. “Don’t say that, Max.”
“That I want to marry you?”
She moved farther away. “You can’t say that.”
“Whyever not?”
“Because it’s not true and would never happen.”
“It certainly is true, and I can marry whomever I wish.”
She bumped into the couch and plopped down. “What about Sarah?”
“I have never loved her.”
“I thought you wanted to learn to be love-crazy so you could win her.”
“You are the only one I want to be love-crazy with.”
She palmed her head as though she could not quite believe what he was saying.
He had to make it very clear that his intention to marry her was genuine. He crossed to her, lowered himself to one knee in front of her, and then reached for her hand. “Please do me the honor of becoming my wife.”