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The Marine and The Princess
Cathie Linz
To: King LeopoldFrom: Marine Corps Captain Mark Wilder Operation:Princess Vanessa Von VolzemburgYour Highness, I've been assigned to guard Princess Vanessa while she's traveling incognito in America. But I don't enjoy spying on her.Vanessa is far from the spoiled princess I expected. She is bold and adventurous as well as lovely and vulnerable–a woman who craves a life free from her royal obligations. But she understands she must return and marry a man she doesn't love.Vanessa will be safe while she's under my care. But also know that I cannot promise to shelter her from the world, or even from myself….
“I’m going to teach you
some self-defense,” Mark announced.
“Put your arms around me.”
As Vanessa followed Mark’s order, forbidden excitement shot thought her.
“There are several ways to respond to an attack. Stomp your attacker’s foot. Scrape his shin with your heel. Or bend your knee for a backward kick to the groin. Got that?”
“Yes.” She’s also gotten hot and bothered by their close contact. Her cheeks were flushed, and her forehead was damp with sweat. A princess was not allowed to sweat.
He made her feel alive. A sexy and intense chemistry sizzled between them.
“Good.”
“Mmm, good.” She had no idea what he was talking about. She felt dreamy and distracted.
“But sometimes—” He snared her in his arms, flashed a devilishly sexy smile and lowered his head until his lips almost brushed hers. “Sometimes your attacker might use a devious approach. Will you be prepared for this?”
Before she could think, his mouth captured hers.
Dear Reader,
Celebrate the holidays with Silhouette Romance! We strive to deliver emotional, fast-paced stories that suit your every mood—each and every month. Why not give the gift of love this year by sending your best friends and family members one of our heartwarming books?
Sandra Paul’s The Makeover Takeover is the latest page-turner in the popular HAVING THE BOSS’S BABY series. In Teresa Southwick’s If You Don’t Know by Now, the third in the DESTINY, TEXAS series, Maggie Benson is shocked when Jack Riley comes back into her life—and their child’s!
I’m also excited to announce that this month marks the return of two cherished authors to Silhouette Romance. Gifted at weaving intensely dramatic stories, Laurey Bright once again thrills Romance readers with her VIRGIN BRIDES title, Marrying Marcus. Judith McWilliams’s charming tale, The Summer Proposal, will delight her throngs of devoted fans and have us all yearning for more!
As a special treat, we have two fresh and original royalty-themed stories. In The Marine & the Princess, Cathie Linz pits a hardened military man against an impetuous princess. Nicole Burnham’s Going to the Castle tells of a duty-bound prince who escapes his castle walls and ends up with a beautiful refugee-camp worker.
We promise to deliver more exciting new titles in the coming year. Make it your New Year’s resolution to read them all!
Happy reading!
Mary-Theresa Hussey
Senior Editor
The Marine & the Princess
Cathie Linz
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
For Alison Hart, aka Jennifer Greene,
for being such a wonderful friend over the years
and for sharing my love of fairy tales. And with
very special thanks to my editor, Jennifer Walsh,
for making the entire process such a creative pleasure.
Books by Cathie Linz
Silhouette Romance
One of a Kind Marriage #1032
* (#litres_trial_promo) Daddy in Dress Blues #1470
* (#litres_trial_promo) Stranded with the Sergeant #1534
* (#litres_trial_promo) The Marine & the Princess #1561
Silhouette Desire
Change of Heart #408
A Friend in Need #443
As Good as Gold #484
Adam’s Way #519
Smiles #575
Handyman #616
Smooth Sailing #665
Flirting with Trouble #722
Male Ordered Bride #761
Escapades #804
Midnight Ice #846
Bridal Blues #894
A Wife in Time #958
† (#litres_trial_promo) Michael’s Baby #1023
† (#litres_trial_promo) Seducing Hunter #1029
† (#litres_trial_promo) Abbie and the Cowboy #1036
Husband Needed #1098
Silhouette Books
Montana Mavericks
Baby Wanted
CATHIE LINZ
left her career in a university law library to become a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romances. She is the recipient of the highly coveted Storyteller of the Year Award given by Romantic Times Magazine and was recently nominated for a Love and Laughter Career Achievement Award for the delightful humor in her books.
Cathie enjoys traveling, spending time with her family, her two cats, her trusty word processor and her hidden cache of Oreo cookies!
Contents
Chapter One (#u86c7b5f0-765e-5285-8d63-a8b4d3a47bb8)
Chapter Two (#u2e7b305e-a9d2-5a62-8354-71dfe396305c)
Chapter Three (#uadc39ef1-9cf2-5a8d-b662-803294350a39)
Chapter Four (#uaba5293f-18a9-5b28-9d97-fa08b61a5cca)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One
“You’ve got to help me!” Princess Vanessa Alexandria Maria Teresa Von Volzemburg pleaded in desperation.
“What’s wrong?” her close friend Prudence Martin-Wilder asked from the other end of the phone line. “Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay,” Vanessa replied, kicking off her designer shoes and flinging herself onto the ivory damask-covered chaise lounge in her suite at the Plaza Hotel. “If I have to shake another hand or smile another empty royal smile I’m going to scream.” Her voice was shaky with exhaustion. “Here I am in New York City, the most vibrant and exciting city in the world, and I’m locked up like a prisoner.”
Vanessa stared out the hotel window at the sparkling city lights with longing. A big world was teeming with life out there. Without her.
She felt so trapped. Her prison walls were invisible bars constructed out of ingrained loyalty to her family and her country. She was burned-out from months and months of continuous projects—racing from one official function to another, putting duty above her own health, working through two bouts of flu and one of bronchitis, not pausing for illness or fatigue until she was so depleted she couldn’t even think straight anymore.
“What are you doing in New York?” Prudence asked.
Vanessa rubbed her sore feet. You’d think shoes that cost several thousand dollars and had been made just for her would be comfortable as well as stunning. Many was the time she’d longed to show up for some formal occasion wearing an old pair of broken-in athletic shoes under her Valentino haute couture gown. “I’m here for the International Chocolate Manufacturers Convention promoting the chocolate makers of Volzemburg.”
“A tough job, I know, but someone has to do it,” Prudence said in a teasing voice.
“I’ve been working since six this morning, and it’s now after eleven at night. It’s been like that every day. I don’t think I’ll be able to look at another chocolate truffle for a month,” Vanessa groaned.
Prudence laughed. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Okay, so maybe I’ll be ready for more chocolate in an hour or two. But I won’t be ready to return to Volzemburg.” Vanessa shoved restless trembling fingers through her shoulder-length blond hair, ruining the smooth line of her expensive cut. The royal hairdresser Mimi would be distraught at the way Vanessa’s hair looked now. Tough noogies. “My father has been driving me crazy with his demands that I announce my engagement to Sebastian de Koonan.”
“Sebastian…he’s that wealthy business tycoon from Volzemburg, right?” Prudence asked.
“Right. His lineage is almost as good as mine. And he’s good-looking in his own way, I suppose. But the idea of marrying him…” Vanessa shuddered. “It would be like marrying my brother or cousin. I just don’t feel that way about him.”
“Have you told your father that?”
“Yes, certainly I’ve told him, but my father doesn’t listen to me. I can’t take this anymore!” Her voice cracked. “I’ve got to get out of this prison of responsibilities, even if only for a few days.”
“Now, Vanessa, don’t do anything rash,” Prudence warned, clearly recognizing that tone of voice from their teenage days when they’d both attended a private girls’ school together for a year.
“Don’t do anything rash?” Vanessa repeated. “This from a woman who went bungee jumping?”
“Yes, well, I’m not a princess. As you said at the time, you do have responsibilities. You can’t just take off on a vacation or something.”
“I can’t?” Vanessa sat up a little straighter. “Why not?”
“Because your life is planned out months in advance, your royal schedule booked down to the last second. Isn’t that what you told me?”
“Yes, but next week my father has me spending time with Sebastian at the palace. There aren’t any major charity functions or official business events planned.” Excitement took hold and for the first time Vanessa began to see a glimmer of light at the end of what had been a very long, dark and lonely tunnel for her. “I could just take off.”
“No, you couldn’t. That would be dangerous. You’re a wealthy princess. If you went missing your father would send out the Marines for you, or the Volzemburg equivalent of that.” Prudence’s father was a sergeant major in the U.S. Marine Corps, and last year she’d married a Marine, so she tended to voice things in Marine-like terms.
“Ah, but I wouldn’t go missing,” Vanessa said. “I could stay right here in New York City.”
“Your father wouldn’t let you do that.”
“He would if he thought I was sick. And I have been sick. I’m so beat that I’m sure I’m about to come down with something. Yes.” Vanessa cast a determined look around the well-appointed room. “I need a rest from this prison. And I have a plan that I think will work!”
“I think it’s crazy.”
