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His Forbidden Pregnant Princess
Maisey Yates
The king’s irresistible seduction… …leads to an inescapable royal consequence! As King Luca of San Gennaro prepares to take the throne, the last thing he needs is a scandal. Especially one of his own making! But his plan to select a husband for his step-sister, Sophia, backfires wildly when their forbidden desire explodes passionately into life! However much they long for each other, it must never happen again. Until Luca discovers Sophia is pregnant with his heir…
The king’s irresistible seduction...
...leads to an inescapable royal consequence!
As King Luca of San Gennaro prepares to take the throne, the last thing he needs is a scandal. Especially one of his own making! But his plan to select a husband for his stepsister, Sophia, backfires wildly when their forbidden desire explodes passionately into life! However much they long for each other, it must never happen again. Until Luca discovers Sophia is pregnant with his heir...
Step into the king’s palace with this dramatic royal romance...
MAISEY YATES is a New York Times bestselling author of over seventy-five romance novels. She has a coffee habit she has no interest in kicking, and a slight Pinterest addiction. She lives with her husband and children in the Pacific Northwest. When Maisey isn’t writing she can be found singing in the grocery store, shopping for shoes online and probably not doing dishes. Check out her website: maiseyyates.com (http://www.maiseyyates.com).
Also by Maisey Yates (#u1672c64f-daf0-5626-b657-4293c8ad2ba0)
The Greek’s Nine-Month Redemption
Carides’s Forgotten Wife
Brides of Innocence miniseries
The Spaniard’s Untouched Bride
The Spaniard’s Stolen Bride
Heirs Before Vows miniseries
The Spaniard’s Pregnant Bride
The Prince’s Pregnant Mistress
The Italian’s Pregnant Virgin
Once Upon a Seduction… miniseries
The Prince’s Captive Virgin
The Prince’s Stolen Virgin
The Italian’s Pregnant Prisoner
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk).
His Forbidden Pregnant Princess
Maisey Yates
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08815-2
HIS FORBIDDEN PREGNANT PRINCESS
© 2019 Maisey Yates
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Note to Readers (#u1672c64f-daf0-5626-b657-4293c8ad2ba0)
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Text to speech
To Nicole Helm.
Ask and you shall receive. Dare and I shall deliver.
Can I make a children’s cartoon a romance novel?
Yes. Yes, I can.
Contents
Cover (#u613878db-1685-530f-8bcd-fb3cb30ecdbc)
Back Cover Text (#u7ea596a4-890e-55ff-a49c-8a5d954efab4)
About the Author (#u9f2db95c-606c-5f41-b7d4-728210c58102)
Booklist (#ub2bfcb7e-6116-5c12-9c60-77abee61b26e)
Title Page (#u8172d19c-e401-5e46-9772-4fab83af1f7e)
Copyright (#u248dca94-f213-5ef2-b86f-0024a9a8b9b9)
Note to Readers
Dedication (#u970f1575-6d33-5441-bbfb-c08d3ecd438d)
CHAPTER ONE (#u75d6e031-ca46-5027-9ac0-66c81233db8e)
CHAPTER TWO (#u922a19d1-c5cd-5b1d-a34a-67e7f0dd0bb2)
CHAPTER THREE (#u8d045a0b-b182-5fd5-93f4-aaa72db0cca3)
CHAPTER FOUR (#u6f1bd924-4a60-55a9-9470-e8351a14afcf)
CHAPTER FIVE (#uece1ef20-a9ab-5da5-9110-886b64e78909)
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)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#u1672c64f-daf0-5626-b657-4293c8ad2ba0)
SHE WAS BENEATH him in every way. From her common blood to her objectively plain appearance—that years of designer clothing, professional treatments from the finest aestheticians and beauticians and the work of the best makeup artists money could buy had failed to transform into true beauty—from the way she carried herself, to the way she spoke.
The stepsister he had always seen as a particularly drab blot on the otherwise extravagant tapestry of the royal family of San Gennaro.
The stepsister he could hardly bear to share the same airspace with, let alone the same palace.
The stepsister he was now tasked with finding a suitable husband for.
The stepsister he wanted more than his next breath.
She was beneath him in every way. Except for the way he desired most.
And she never would be.
There were a thousand reasons. From the darkness in him, to the common blood in her. But the only reason that truly mattered was that she was his stepsister, and he was a king.
“You requested my presence, Luca?” Sophia asked, looking up at him with a dampened light in her blue eyes that suggested she was suppressing some emotion or other. In all probability a deep dislike for having to deal with him.
But the feeling was mutual. And if he could endure such an indignity then Sophia—in all her borrowed glory—certainly could.
“I did. As you know, it was my father’s final wish that you be well cared for, along with your mother. He wrote it into law that you are part of this family and are to be treated as a daughter of his blood would be.”
Sophia looked down, her lashes dark on her pale cheek. She had visible freckles that never failed to vex him. Because he wanted to count them. Because sometimes, he wanted to kiss each one.
She should cover them with makeup as most women of her status did. She should have some care for the fact she was a princess.
But she did not.
Today she wore a simple shift that made her bare legs seem far too long and slender. It was an ungainly thing. She also wore nothing at all to cover them. She had on flat shoes, and not a single piece of jewelry. Her dark hair hung limp around her shoulders.
He could only hope she had not gone out in public that way.
“Yes,” she said, finally. Then those dark eyes connected with his and he felt it like a lightning bolt straight down to his stomach. He should not. For every reason cataloged in his mind only a moment before. She was not beautiful. Not when compared to the elegant women who had graced his bed before her. Not when compared to nearly any other princess the world over.
But she captivated him. Had done from the moment he had met her. At first it was nothing more than feeling at turns invaded and intrigued by this alien creature that had come into his life. She had been twelve to his seventeen when their parents had married.
Sophia had possessed a public school education, not a single hint of deportment training and no real understanding of the hierarchy of the palace.
She had a tendency to speak out of turn, to trip over her feet and to treat him in an overly familiar manner.
Her mother was a warm, vivacious woman who had done much to restore his father’s life, life that had drained away after the loss of his first wife. She was also a quick study, and did credit to the position of Queen of San Gennaro.
Sophia, on the other hand, seemed to resist her new role, and her new life. She continued to do so now. In little ways. Her bare legs, and her bare face, as an example.
His irritation with her had taken a sharp turn, twisting into something much more disturbing around the time she turned sixteen. That sense of being captivated, in the way one might be by a spider that has invaded one’s room, shifted and became much more focused.
And there had been a moment, when he had found her breathless from running out in the garden like a schoolgirl when she had been the advanced age of seventeen, that everything had locked into place. That it had occurred to him that if he could only capture that insolent mouth of hers with his own she would finally yield. And he would no longer feel so desperately beguiled by her.
It had only gotten worse as the years had progressed. And the idea of kissing her had perverted yet further into doing much, much more.
But it was not to be. Not ever.
As he had just told her, his father had decreed that she was family. As much as if they were blood.
