laughed softly. “I thought we were going to sleep.”
Bent on persuasion, he skimmed his palm along her curves and paused at the bend of her waist. “We could do that if you’d like.”
She draped her arm over his hip. “Sleeping is definitely overrated, so I’m willing to go wherever you lead me.”
And she was leading him to a place he’d never been before—close to crashing and burning with no safe place to land. Tonight, he wouldn’t analyze the unfamiliar feelings. Tonight, she was all his, and he would treat her as if she always would be.
* * *
What an incredible night.
A week ago, Piper would never have believed she could find a lover as unselfish as Adan. She also couldn’t believe her inhibitions had all but disappeared when they made love.
As she supported her cheek with her palm and studied him in the dim light streaming through a break in the heavy gold curtains, she wanted him desperately—even if she was a bit miffed he’d failed to wake her to help care for Sam. Apparently she’d been so relaxed in the postcoitus afterglow, she hadn’t heard the baby’s cries through the bedside monitor. Some mother she would make.
When Adan stirred, she turned her complete focus on him as he lay sleeping on his back, one arm resting above his head on the navy satin-covered pillow, the other draped loosely across his abdomen. She loved the dark shading of whiskers surrounding his gorgeous mouth, envied the way his long dark lashes fanned beneath his eyes and admired the intricate details of his hand as he slid his palm from his sternum down to beneath the sheet and back up again. The reflexive gesture was so masculine, so sexy, she fought the urge to rip back the covers and climb on board the pleasure express.
Then he opened his eyes and blinked twice before he presented a smile as slow as the sun rising above the mountains. “Good morning, princess.”
Didn’t she wish. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
“Always with you in my bed. How did you sleep?”
“Too soundly. I didn’t even hear Sam last night, and evidently you either didn’t wake me to help, or couldn’t.”
He frowned. “I didn’t hear him, either.”
Simultaneous panic set in, sending them both from the bed and grabbing robes as they hurried out of the bedroom. They practically sprinted toward the nursery and tore through the door, only to find an empty crib.
Piper’s hand immediately went to her mouth to cover the gasp. “Someone took him.”
“That is impossible,” Adan said, a hint of fear calling out from his gold-brown eyes. “The palace is a virtual fortress. If someone kidnapped him, it would have to be an inside job. And if that is the case, I will kill them with my bare hands.”
“No need for that, cara.”
They both spun around to discover Elena sitting in the rocker in the far corner of the lengthy room, the baby cradled in her arms, her expression tinged with disapproval.
Weak with relief, Piper hung back and immediately launched into explanation overdrive. “We never heard him last night. We were both very tired and—”
“The bloody monitor must not be working,” Adan added. “Is he all right?”
Elena continued to calmly rock Sam in a steady rhythm. “He is quite fine. And judging from the weight of his diaper when I changed him, I would guess he simply slept all night.”
Adan narrowed his eyes and glared at her. “You should have said something the moment we walked into the room.”
“You should learn to be more observant of your surroundings when it comes to your son, Adan,” she replied. “A hard lesson learned, but one that needed to be taught. When he is toddling, you must know where he is at all times.”
Piper, in theory, didn’t disagree with the governess’s assertions, but she did question her tactics. “We were both expecting to find him in the crib, and needless to say we were shocked when we didn’t.”
Adan clasped his hands behind his neck and began to pace. “I’ve been in treacherous military situations less harrowing than this.”
Elena pushed out of the chair and approached him. “Settle down, Adan, and hold your baby.”
He looked as though he might be afraid to touch him. “I have to prepare for my duties today, but I will return to check on him before I depart for the base.”
And with that, he rushed away, leaving Piper alone with the former nanny.
“Well, I suppose I should put this little one to bed for a nap,” Elena said, breaking the awkward silence.
Piper approached her and held out her arms. “May I?”
“Of course.”
After Elena handed her Sam, Piper kissed his cheek before carefully lowering him to the crib. She continued to study Sam’s sweet face slack with sleep, his tiny lips forming a rosebud. He’d grown so much in only a matter of days, and in only a few weeks, she would say goodbye to him—and his father—for good. “He’s such a beautiful little boy.”
The woman came to her side and rested her slender hands on the top of the railing. “Yes, he is, as his father was at that age.”
She saw the chance to learn more about Adan from one of the biggest influences in his life and took it. “Was Adan a good baby?”
“Yes. He was very little trouble, until he turned two, and then he became quite the terror. He climbed everything available to him, and I didn’t dare turn my back for more than a second or he would have dismantled something. I would try to scold him over his bad behavior, and then he would give me that charming smile, and all was forgiven.”
Piper could absolutely relate to that. “He was lucky to have you after losing his mother.”
Some unnamed emotion passed over Elena’s careworn face. “I was fortunate to have the opportunity to raise him. All the brothers, for that matter.”
Time to broach the subject of the paternal presence. “Was the king involved in his upbringing?”
Elena turned and crossed the room to reclaim the rocker, looking as if all the energy had left her. “He did the best that he could under the circumstance. Losing his wife proved to be devastating to him, yet he had no choice but to postpone his grief in order to serve his country.”
Piper took the light blue club chair next to Elena. “Adan has intimated the king was a strict disciplinarian.”
“He could be,” she said. “He wanted his sons to be strong, independent men, despite their wealth and their station. Some might say he was too strict at times.”
“Would you say that?”
“Perhaps, but it was not my place to interfere.”
“I would think you had every right to state your opinion in light of your relationship.”
Elena stiffened and appeared quite stunned by the statement. “Has Adan spoken to you about myself and the king?”
Piper smelled a scandal brewing. “Not at all. I only meant that since you were in charge of the children, you should have had some say in how they were treated.”
Elena relaxed somewhat, settled back against the rocker and set it in motion. “The king was stern, but fair.”
“I’m not sure how fair it was for Adan when he shipped him off to boarding school at such a young age.” And she’d probably just overstepped her bounds by at least a mile.
“He did so to protect him.”
The defensiveness in her tone did not deter Piper. “Protect him from what?”
Elena tightened her grip