The Secret Fiancée (The Windsors, #5)

by Catharina Maura

“Where did you hide her, Grams?” I

“Your turn, Lex. Are you single?” I hesitate for a moment, my conscience weighing heavy on me. I hadn’t expected to speak to her just yet, hadn’t planned to spin a web of lies. “There’s no one but you, Raya.”

“They’re the ones that keep our family running. They keep us together,” he says, clear reverence in his voice. “Each and every one of those women truly have become sisters to me, and I’m not sure I could see our lives without them anymore. They saved me, and they don’t even know it.”

“That’s what my family does — we love fiercely, and there’s nothing we won’t do for those we love. I’d never let anyone hurt them.”

“Oh yeah?” he murmurs. “Yet somehow, your eyes keep me far more captivated than the starry skies above us ever could. I’m not sure I like how easily you’ve put me under your spell.”

“You make me feel entirely out of control, Raya. I swear this isn’t what I had in mind when I asked you to leave with me. I don’t want you to think there’s only one thing I’m after, but fuck, baby, I can’t tear myself away from you.”

“My turn,” she whispers against my lips, before leaning in for another kiss. “Choose Dare, Lex.” I smile in between kisses, surprisingly happy to obey my future wife.

prefer logic and reason. Realistically, being in love is just a chemical reaction, one that impairs your judgement. I have no interest in it, and thus, I have no interest in dating anyone.”

If I had a choice, would I choose to spend another evening with him, laughing and playing truth or dare until we’re barely able to stay awake? I sigh and let my eyes fall closed for a moment. Yes. A thousand times over.

“I suggest you end whatever it is you started before I find out who he is.” His gaze roams over my face, lingering on my lips for a moment, before returning to my eyes. “You’re mine, Raya Lewis. You just don’t know it yet.”

“I am being forced into it, but I also always knew that it was coming. I know I don’t have a choice, and though I’d never tell her this, I trust my grandmother.”

“I’ll agree to that, so long as we’re clear on one thing: you’re mine as much as I’m yours, and I do not share. You can hide our marriage as much as you want, but it doesn’t make it any less real.”

“Let me make one thing abundantly clear,” he says, his tone sharp and his eyes locked with mine. “I’m engaged, and I won’t tolerate any rumors that could even remotely upset my future wife.”

“It would make me so happy if you’d give us a real chance, Lex. I’m not asking you to change, you know? I’ll take you as you are.”

My wife’s pussy is a drug handcrafted for me, the sounds she makes the perfect high.

“You terrify me, Raya,” I whisper without thinking. Confusion crosses her eyes, and she cups my face. “Why?” Because you’re the kind of woman I could lose my heart to when I didn’t think I’d ever dare do something so foolish again. Because you’ve enchanted me in a matter of days.

“I taught you to fly because I want to share all the things I love with you. For the longest time, flying was what I loved most of all.”

I don’t quite dare name — until she does it for me. Raya pulls back, her gaze roaming over my face, and then she smiles. “I love you, Lexington Windsor. You don’t have to try so hard, you know? You’re perfect for me, just as you are.”

want to do more than try with her — I want to love her, the way she deserves.

“Just give me the damn ferret,” he mutters. “It’s enough that the whole world will think I’m having countless affairs. The last thing I need is additional rumors about how my wife murdered my mistresses and carries their heads.”

Does he realize he created real life Teletubbies?

Love isn’t always loud and obvious, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

“I love you, Lex. Only you.” I love you, too. So fucking much it hurts. The words are at the tip of my tongue, but I’m scared to say them, scared to jinx this thing between us, so I just drop my forehead to hers. “You know I’m yours, right?”

I can see my husband falling for me the way I’ve fallen for him, and it’s so surreal.

“I’m a Windsor, Akshay,” Raya says, and a thrill runs down my spine. I’ve often reminded her that she’s my wife, but this is the first time I’ve heard her referring to herself this way. “I’m not someone you can touch without incurring the wrath of a dozen people you can’t afford to offend, least of all my husband.

“I love you, Raya. More than anything — more than flying, more than breathing. I love you with every fiber of my being, with all I am, all I’ll ever be.”

Underneath us, the flowers spell: Raya, will you marry me?

“You’ll never lose her,” he promises. “You’re just gaining a son.”