Royally Ever After (Royals of Valleria #7) by Marianne Knightly Read Free Book Online Page B

other, and pressing easy kisses to patches of skin.
    They didn’t make love again; exhaustion was wearing on both of them too much for that. After drying off – Rebecca taking a little more time to dry to her hair – they slid into their bed and curled into each other.
    Alex could already see the first slices of dawn ready to break across the black summer night. If he was lucky, he’d get an hour of sleep with his love wrapped around him.
    Thirty minutes later, the phone rang. Despite the temptation to ignore it, he glanced at the screen.
    Luck wasn’t going to be with him that night.

Chapter Four
    P rincess Arianna loved Brazenbourg . She’d had to renounce her ties to Valleria in some respects when she’d married Finn de Bara, the crown prince and ruler of Brazenbourg, a small landlocked country several hundred miles north of Valleria. Now, however, being away from her family – when her father was lying in a hospital bed, and being unable to attend Alex’s wedding – she was having mixed feelings about the place.
    She loved Brazenbourg’s people – and, it must be said, they loved her – she loved its food, its culture, and, most of all, she loved its prince, who was currently curled up next to her in their bed, sound asleep. Finn hadn’t gotten much sleep lately, which was mostly her fault.
    Or rather, their child’s, who was still tucked away waiting to be born.
    Becoming pregnant with their child, who could be the next ruler of Brazenbourg, meant Arianna couldn’t travel and risk the child being born in another country.
    Which meant she’d miss the wedding.
    Their little boy or girl – they wanted it to be a surprise – was always active when she laid down to sleep. Too active. As if being one hundred months pregnant wasn’t uncomfortable enough, their child decided to turn and kick and play at bedtime. She had a feeling their baby would be just the same after it was finally born.
    Of course, tonight, worry over her father also kept her awake.
    Arianna turned again, trying to find a better position. She swept her caramel-colored locks away from her face and sighed. She caught sight of her hand, and lamented the loss of her wedding and emerald engagement rings. Her fingers had swollen too much to keep wearing them.
    She winced as a sharp pain stabbed her side. She’d had many aches and pains through pregnancy because of the weight she’d gained – she had not been a pretty pregnant princess, no matter how much she had tried to keep her weight under control and her face free of pimples – but none of the pains had been like this.
    She shifted in the bed again, casting a furtive glance at Finn. When he remained asleep, she took a deep breath.
    Another pain, this time worse than the first.
    Could these be contractions? Actual contractions? Or were these fake ones? How was she supposed to know?
    Deciding to time them, she shifted to lay on her side. She watched the clock on the side table and rubbed a slow circle on her extremely large belly.
    It was ten minutes before the next pain came.
    But was it a contraction?
    Needing to use the bathroom, Arianna got up as quietly as possible. She waddled to their bathroom, the path well-worn in the carpet since she made the same journey so many times these days.
    Another pain hit her on her way back out, and she clutched the doorjamb with one hand, and her belly with the other.
    She breathed through it, then waddled back to bed. As she pulled back the covers, she saw a dark spot on the bedsheets.
    A dark spot that hadn’t been there when she’d gone to sleep.
    Maybe her water broke while she was asleep. Though, wouldn’t she have woken up, if it had?
    She ran her fingers over the spot. It was wet, but thicker than water.
    Oh God.
    It was then she realized their child hadn’t moved, not for the last several minutes.
    Oh God.
    She flipped on the light, sending the room into glaring technicolor.
    The dark spot was blood.
    Finn ran a hand through his close