Killian (Dance with the Devil 3) Read online

  The press conference couldn’t have gone more smoothly than if those announcements had been planned beforehand.

  Killian had no doubt that tomorrow’s newspapers would herald in the “new and exciting” designer Natalia Brunelli without so much as a mention of the now-retired Asselin.

  “Carla and I are going to our own suite,” Leon announced with a heated glance toward his new wife once they were all back at the hotel, a glance she responded to with a blush. “Don’t anyone interrupt us unless there’s a fire.” He levelled his gaze on Killian and Natalia. “And no eloping either. I demand the right to walk my daughter down the aisle in a wedding dress she designs. Proud of you, baby.” He hugged Natalia before releasing her to take his wife by the elbow as the two of them walked toward the elevators.

  Leon had just given his blessing to their relationship.

  Because Killian was preferable to someone like Henri Asselin, he reminded himself.

  “And Killian…”

  He looked up questioningly when Leon called his name across the lobby.

  “Never underestimate what a good and loyal man you are,” the older man told him huskily.

  “You make me sound like a bloody dog,” Killian drawled.

  “Woof,” Leon taunted before sobering. “Now that you’re with Natalia, I’ll be taking Jericho back as my lead bodyguard,” he added before stepping inside the elevator, Carla at his side. “You can’t play poker for shite,” he deliberately used an Irish accent to use that mainly Irish term. “He always has all the craic too.” He correctly pronounced the Irish word as “crack,” referring to news and gossip Jericho never seemed to be short of.

  Jericho gave Killian a triumphant grin as he crossed the lobby to stand beside Leon and Carla, the doors closing before all three of them went up in the elevator.

  Leaving Killian and Natalia on their own—Evan and Luke, plus Liam and Kieran, were standing together some distance away and probably as confused as hell as to whom they were now guarding—for the first time since Natalia had told him she loved him and knew that he loved her.

  She wasn’t wrong in the way she’d come to that conclusion. Only a lunatic or a man in love would stand up to Leon Brunelli when it came to the future of his beloved daughter.

  Killian wasn’t a lunatic.

  But that didn’t mean he didn’t feel unworthy of someone like Natalia. She was fifteen years younger than him, beautiful and talented, and he was just an Irish gobshite who was employed as a bodyguard by her father. One, moreover, who apparently “couldn’t play poker for shite” and wasn’t conversant with “all the craic” either.

  What did he have to offer a young and vibrantly beautiful woman like Natalia?

  “You,” Natalia told him several minutes later when he said the same thing to her once they were finally alone in her hotel suite.

  “Me,” he echoed heavily. “A man fifteen years older than you and employed by your father?”

  She nodded. “I’m going to need a business partner once the Natalia Brunelli fashion company is launched.”

  He looked taken aback. “Me?”

  She smiled. “My father is right, Killian, you underestimate yourself and your abilities. Whereas I have absolutely no doubt that you can help me run a fashion company as efficiently as you run the security for Leon Brunelli and his family.”

  “Only if I’m allowed to put money into it.” Being part of Leon’s protection detail for the past ten years meant Killian had earned a lot of money with very little time to spend it or things to spend it on. Consequently, Killian had thousands of dollars saved that he could invest in Natalia’s company and so make them business partners.

  Was that going to be enough to level the financial imbalance between them?

  Natalia hated the look of uncertainty she could still see on Killian’s face. He was her knight in shining armor and the man she loved with all her heart.

  He was also the man she wanted to marry and have lots of babies with.

  Killian’s eyes widened. “You want lots of babies…?”

  Natalia felt the embarrassed color enter her cheeks at the realization she had spoken those last words out loud. But that didn’t it make it any less true. “Lots,” she confirmed, stepping so close to him, they were almost but not quite touching. “I love you, Killian. I’ll never love anyone else. Just you, for the rest of my life. So yes, I want lots of your babies.”

  He visibly swallowed. “You’re going to look so fecking gorgeous when you’re pregnant.”

  “With your babies,” she insisted with a smile.

  Killian drew in a deep breath before slowly releasing it. “You’ll agree to my investing money in your company?”

  She would agree to anything if Killian would only say yes to marrying her. “Yes.”

  “And you’ll marry me?”

  “God, yes,” she answered emotionally.

  He nodded. “Then yes, you’re going to look amazing when you’re pregnant with our babies.”

  Natalia’s smile warmed and widened. “Can we make a start on the first one now?”

  “Feck yes!” His arms moved about her waist as he pulled her body close against his. “We’re getting married the moment we get back to the States,” he vowed before devouring her lips in a deep and claiming kiss.

  They continued to kiss as they removed and discarded their clothes, the two of them lying naked together on the couch seconds later.

  “Do you really prefer me slightly…plumper?” Natalia quizzed.

  “I love you any way I can get you,” Killian murmured, his lips a heated caress from the base of her throat to the sensitive spot behind her ear. “I just love you, Natalia.” He raised his head to look down at her intently. “Thin, voluptuous, nine months pregnant with our child. It’s you I’m in love with, not how you look. I love your fire and loyalty. Your passion and caring. Your bloody-minded obstinacy. The way you cared more about your father’s happiness than your own when he told you he wanted to marry Carla, a woman only five years older than you. A lot of daughters would have given their father hell over that situation, but not you. You love with all your heart, with no conditions or reservations.” He stared intently into her eyes. “I want that love for myself, and I swear to you, I’ll love you in exactly the same way for the rest of my life.”

  No woman could ask for more.

  “You have it, Killian,” she promised. “Always.”

  “Always,” he echoed firmly.

  There was no more talking, only ecstatic sighs and groans of pleasure as Killian caressed and suckled her nipples, then the flatness of her abdomen, followed by the warm curve of her hips. All while Natalia’s hands clung to his muscled back and then his equally muscular shoulders.

  Her body arched up when Killian lay between her parted thighs and laid claim to her clit, giving her climax after climax until she begged to have him inside her.

  Killian slid up the length of her body. “I’ve had the past three months to think of nothing else but you, of being with you like this, and it occurred to me…” He held her fevered gray gaze with his heated green one. “Natalia, are you still a virgin?”

  Heat suffused her cheeks. “When would I ever have had a chance to be anything else when I’ve had a sexy bodyguard dogging my every move for years?”

  Killian grinned. “Thank God for sexy bodyguards!”

  Natalia eyed him quizzically. “You like that I’m a virgin?”

  His arms tightened about her. “Do I like knowing that I’m the first man you’ve made love with? That I’ll be the last man you ever make love with too? Hell, yes, I like it,” he assured possessively.

  Natalia gave a happy laugh. “I do too.”

  Killian then proceeded to make love to her with so much love and tenderness, Natalia barely noticed the slight pinch of discomfort that dispensed with her virginity before she was once again lost in the throes of release.

  “Again,” Killian demanded as he thrust rhythmically into her channe
l.

  Natalia lost count of how many times Killian demanded her pleasure before he took his own, his cock swelling even larger inside her before his thrusts faltered slightly and seconds later, he pumped his release deep inside her.

  Their son, Patrick Leonardo Price, was born exactly nine months later, on the day after Natalia’s second exclusive collection was shown to the public and heralded as being another triumph for the Brunelli-Price fashion label owned and run by the married couple, Natalia and Killian Price.

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  About the Author

  Carole Mortimer is a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the RWA Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award 2015, RT Career Achievement Award 2017, RT Pioneer for Romance Award 2014. She was also recognized by Queen Elizabeth II in 2012 for her ‘outstanding service to literature’. Carole has written over 260 contemporary, Regency and paranormal romance novels.

  She is happily married to Peter. They have 6 sons, and live on the beautiful Isle of Man. She also loves to hear from Readers!

  Other books by Carole Mortimer

  Regency Scandal:

  WANTON (Regency Scandal 1)

  WILD (Regency Scandal 2)

  More books to come in this series

  Russian Dragon Heat

  VLADIMIR (Russian Dragon Heat 1)

  VAUGHN (Russian Dragon Heat 2)

  ALEKSEY (Russian Dragon Heat 3)

  More books to come in this series.

  Regency Club Venus:

  Bastian’s Surrender (Regency Club Venus 1)

  Gabriel’s Torment (Regency Club Venus 2)

  Benedict’s Challenge (Regency Club Venus 3)

  Julius’s Passion (Regency Club Venus 4)

  James’s Lady (Regency Club Venus 5)

  Series now complete.

  Dance with the Devil Series:

  MATTEO (Dance with the Devil 1)

  LEON (Dance with the Devil 2)

  KILLIAN (Dance with the Devil 3)

  JERICHO (Dance with the Devil 4)

  More books to come in this series

  Regency Men in Love M/M (Written as C A Mortimer)

  Hidden Lover (Regency Men in Love 1)

  Hidden Desire (Regency Men in Love 2)

  More books to come in this series.

  Regency Lovers Series:

  INDECENT (Regency Lovers 1)

  OBSESSION (Regency Lovers 2)

  CRAVING (Regency Lovers 3)

  FORBIDDEN (Regency Lovers 4)

  SURRENDER (Regency Lovers 5)

  SCANDAL (Regency Lovers 6)

  Series complete

  Steele Protectors Series:

  LOGAN (Steele Protectors 1)

  ATTICUS (Steele Protectors 2)

  BRYCE (Steele Protectors 3)

  ROURKE (Steele Protectors 4)

  HAYDN (Steele Protectors 5) Author’s 250th book

  LUCAN (Steele Protectors 6)

  Series Complete

  Dragon Hearts – Contemporary paranormal

  Nathaniel (Dragon Hearts 1)

  Deryk (Dragon Hearts 2)

  Bryn (Dragon Hearts 3)

  Dylan (Dragon Hearts 4)

  Grigor (Dragon Hearts 5)

  Garrett (Dragon Hearts 6)

  Aeran & Rhys (Dragon Hearts 7)

  Dragon Reunion (Dragon Hearts 8)

  Series Complete

  Regency Sinners Series:

  Wicked Torment (Regency Sinners 1)

  Wicked Surrender (Regency Sinners 2)

  Wicked Scandal (Regency Sinners 3)

  Wicked Deception Regency Sinners 4)

  Wicked Captive (Regency Sinners 5)

  Wicked Temptation (Regency Sinners 6)

  Wicked Sinner (Regency Sinners 7)

  Wicked Christmas (Regency Sinners 8)

  Series now complete.

  Regency Unlaced Series:

  The Duke’s Mistress (Book 1)

  Claimed by the Marquis (Book 2)

  Taken by the Earl (Book 3)

  Pursued by the Viscount (Book 4)

  Desired by a Lord (Book 5)

  Captured by a Gentleman (Book 6)

  Pleasured by a Duke (Book 7)

  Seduced by a Marquis (Book 8)

  Tamed by the Earl (Book 9)

  Series now complete

  Knight Security Series: Spin-off to ALPHA series

  Resisting Alexandre (Knight Security 0.5)

  Defying Asher (Knight Security 1)

  Challenging Gabriel (Knight Security 2)

  Capturing Caleb (Knight Security 3)

  Tempting Zander (Knight Security 4)

  Enticing Ian (Knight Security 5)

  Seducing Ethan (Knight Security 6)

  Series now complete

  ALPHA Series:

  Christmas Alpha (Alpha 1)

  Dark Alpha (Alpha 2)

  Shadow Alpha (Alpha 3) Author’s 200th Book

  Midnight Alpha (Alpha 4)

  Renegade Alpha (Alpha 5)

  Warrior Alpha (Alpha 6)

  Rogue Alpha (Alpha 7)

  Savage Alpha (Alpha 8)

  Series is now complete