A.C. Arthur - Prince Ever After

A royal wager

Playboy prince Roland DeSaunters is ready to live up to his royal legacy—by betting on his future. Winning the beautiful Valora Harrington in a poker game is a scandal waiting to happen. Lucky for him, Val has no intention of getting involved with the younger brother of the man to whom she was once engaged. But after sharing an earth-shattering kiss with Val, Roland is the one swept off his feet.

An ill-fated engagement to a man she didn’t love convinced Val that finding Prince Charming wasn’t in her cards. That was before she was drawn into a passionate clandestine affair with the handsome bad boy of the reigning family. With dangerous enemies plotting the noble dynasty’s downfall, are Val and Roland ready to gamble on an uncertain future? Or could a last-minute challenge lead to the biggest surprise wedding Grand Serenity has ever seen?

“You never know what people truly think about you when all they’ve ever heard was gossip,” she admitted.

“Misjudgments,” Roland commented as his eyes seemed to search her face for something she wasn’t quite sure she possessed. “People tend to do that far too often.”

“I agree,” she said, her throat suddenly dry.

“Honesty is a beautiful thing,” he continued as he rubbed his hands down his thighs.

“It can be,” Val replied. “On the other hand, some people can’t accept the truth as well as they can a lie.”

“You want to know what’s true at this very moment?” Roland asked.

Was he leaning closer?

Val clenched the napkin she’d been holding more tightly in her hand.

“What?” she asked in response.

She didn’t really think she wanted to know what Roland was going to say next, but at the same time, she didn’t want this moment to end.

He was in fact leaning closer. He’d planted a palm on the blanket to hold himself steady as his face neared hers.

“I want you,” he whispered.

She gulped, loudly. Then as she licked her lips impulsively, his gaze lowered to her mouth.

“Yes, Valora, I definitely, unquestionably want you.”

Dear Reader,

It’s time for the big royal wedding! I so enjoyed writing Roland’s story because throughout the first two books he’s been in the background keeping his thoughts and feelings to himself. Well, Val has stepped onto the scene, and she’s brought out every feeling Roland has been desperately trying to keep at bay. I love this couple so much. Neither of them imagined they would ever find someone special, and when they do, they almost still can’t believe it. So it was very fitting to wrap up this trilogy with their love story. I hope you have enjoyed your time on Grand Serenity Island!

Happy reading,

ac

Prince Ever After

A.C. Arthur

www.millsandboon.co.uk

A.C. ARTHUR is an award-winning author who lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her husband and three children. An active imagination and a love for reading encouraged her to begin writing in high school, and she hasn’t stopped since.

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To all the dreamers.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

The breeze cut across his face like a million tiny pinpricks. Beneath him the engine purred like a satisfied female as the wheels smoothly took on another sharp turn on a road where there was only one lane’s worth of space.

He’d traveled this road so many times before and most times at the same rate of speed. His fingers hugged the steering wheel in an easy embrace, his back and body comfortable against the smooth leather seats of the silver-metallic Jaguar XJ220. Night had fallen over the mountains and cliffs of the island an hour ago, and he’d itched to get out of the confines of his everyday dress clothes and the formal dining room of the royal palace. It reminded him of his teenage years. Prince Roland Simon DeSaunters tossed his head back and laughed.

He’d been such a hellion back then. But eleven years ago didn’t seem that long, surely not long enough for him to mature into the prince that everyone expected him to be. He’d had too long to practice being reckless, adventurous and fearless, to bottle all that spirit and simply sit still as a member of the royal family of Grand Serenity Island. That wasn’t Roland’s speed at all.

His speed was fast. Fun. Borderline rowdy.

With that thought, he took another curve, going downhill as he headed into town. The moment he’d been able to escape the clutches of another tension-filled family dinner, Roland had climbed into his car and driven to the small house hidden in the clefts of the mountainside that he adored. It had been his first major purchase the moment he’d been old enough to spend a part of his inherited fortune without adult supervision. The house was a high school graduation gift to himself, although he hadn’t actually been able to live in it until his four years in the Royal Seaside Navy had been completed. His place was located on the southern tip of the island, where construction had not yet reached. Therefore, this part of his homeland was still flanked with dense forestation. Two of the island’s tallest mountains dubbed the Serene Mountains for their location thrust through the greenery.

Roland loved it here. The scent of the tropical air rejuvenated him. The stretch of the empty road encouraged him. This was where Roland thrived and very few people knew about it. Of course, there were guards here, he was a prince, after all. But he did not keep a formal staff, preferring to do for himself when he was there. That was the reason he drove himself tonight. He had an important appointment to keep and so he pressed harder on the gas and made yet another sharp turn, smiling into the breeze as his car handled perfectly.

Fifteen minutes later Roland pulled into a dark alley. He parked his car alongside a white stone dwelling. He got out and took the steps two at a time, until he reached a door that was painted a vibrant orange. Windows climbing up the front and back walls of the building had bright white borders and orange window boxes with flowers pouring out of each one.

A slender woman answered after he knocked on the door once. She stood quietly as Roland stepped inside. The hallway was narrowand he walked slowly, anticipation bubbling in his blood. The tips of his fingers tingled and his mind emptied of anything and everything that could be a distraction.

That included the attacks on his family that had resulted in the royal palace being on lockdown for the past six months. The palace had even stopped having guests, and any staff member who hadn’t been vetted, questioned and watched on a daily basis was dismissed.

His father’s wedding would take place in just four weeks. His father’s fiancée was one royal pain in the ass. His older brother, Kris, was married and still worried about a few accounts at their family bank. His sister, Sam, was married and glowing with love—she’d begun turning over the majority of her responsibilities on the island to Landry, his sister-in-law. And, of course, Malayka, the pain-in-the-ass soon-to-be princess.