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“A law?” Her eyes lit up, and she looked at him like she’d just uncovered a particularly intriguing secret. “Why are you reading about laws?”

“To ensure others don’t break them.” He might be giving too much away, but he wanted to share something more about himself—just a tiny bit.

“Oh? What sort of law?”

“The kind that keeps trade balances,” he replied, finally plucking the paper from her hands and setting it aside. “A boring conversation,” he added, his pulse quickening under her unwavering gaze.

“Tell me, are you preventing smugglers or pirates, then? Or…” Her eyes narrowed on him. “Are you one of them?”

Alex stared at her, his lips twitching with amusement. “A pirate?” he repeated, leaning back on his hands. “Do I look like a pirate to you?”

She shrugged, her gaze sweeping over him. “I don’t know. You seem awfully comfortable around the sea, and that map…” She cocked her head. “They’re not typical reading material for someone enjoying a holiday.”

“We all have our pastimes,” Alex said with a smile. “I like maps.”

“You also read German.”

So, she recognized the language. “I do,” he admitted, his grin widening. He couldn’t deny it.

“Such grand skills,” she said, arching an eyebrow.

He laughed again, shaking his head. “Let’s just say I have an interest in ensuring the laws of the land—and sea—are upheld. I also have a love for language.”

She shook her head with a small scoff. “We couldn’t be more… opposite.”

“And yet, here we are, opposites like man woman. Complementary,” he said, his voice dipping lower. “I think that’s a good thing. Keeps things interesting”

Her gaze flicked to his, her expression unreadable. “I kissed and followed the devil, didn’t I?”

Alex’s laughter rumbled deep in his chest. “I’m not the devil, nor am I a pirate. If you must know, my brother and sister are in London, and they need me there for an urgent business matter. Nothing illegal.”

She leaned back, her curiosity undiminished. “So, you have a brother and sister?”

“Yes,” Alex admitted. “How about you?”

“Just a younger sister.”

“Is she just as fearless as you?”

She laughed. “More than you could imagine.” She reached for one of the sandwiches from the box. “You are a puzzle, you know that, Alex?”

“Am I?”

“Yes,” she replied, meeting his gaze. “And I don’t think you’re going to give me the pieces I need to solve you.”

He grinned. “Maybe some puzzles are better left unsolved.”

“Only a rogue would say that.”

How he wanted to be a rogue at that moment!

He thought back to when they strolled to the cave, and Sera’s footprints followed alongside his. It was almost symbolic, wasn’t it? Every step they took, every footprint they left would be washed away by the inevitability of the tides.

Alex’s chest tightened.

This woman sitting across from him, sipping on wine and enjoying their sandwiches meant so much to him. More than she could ever imagine. More than he had ever imagined. She wasn’t an inconsequential acquaintance, and he just didn’t want to imagine a life without her.

The realization struck him directly in the gut.

His time with Sera, whatever it had become, was lacking in permanence.

This can’t be over yet. Not now. Not ever.

“Sera.”

Her eyes lifted to meet his. It was impossible to build a future with her.

He was duty-bound to Miss Lyndon who was waiting in London for his arrival.

He had to do something about that situation, but there was another situation before him.

Entirely different. His gaze caught on the soft tumble of her dark hair, rich as midnight and stirring gently in the sea breeze, as if beckoning him closer.

Her green eyes held him captive, their depths shifting with light and shadow, like dappled sunlight through forest leaves.

There was a warmth in them, a quiet intelligence that seemed to see right through him, undeterred by walls he hadn’t realized he’d built.

She was magnetic, a force pulling him in with a quiet ferocity that left him unmoored, and for a moment, he could hardly remember how to speak.

“I’m not ready to let you go,” he rasped.

“Shouldn’t you be holding on to me before you say something like that?” She grinned. She held out her hand. “Do you want to be held?”

Something surged within Alex, and it was stronger than ever before: the need to claim her. So beautiful and so precious. Draci , did she even know how he was clinging to her?

He was never the first son, the tallest, the best, but he was the only one here now and Sera was undoubtedly the most beautiful and intelligent woman he’d ever met.

Could she be mine? Wholly? Forever?

Alex swallowed hard and took her hand in his.

“I just don’t want this day to end.” He wanted to hold onto this moment, to find a way to make their time together last. How could he freeze time?

The idea of losing her was unbearable. His hand tightened around hers searching for the right words to describe his feelings, to tell her how much she meant to him.

“Then don’t let it.”

“It’s not in my power to keep the sun from setting. Everything will be different tomorrow.”

As a third son, he may have a title and responsibilities but hardly any political sway. He had no way to fight his future unless he rebelled outright.

Turned a true rogue.

Except that nobody had taught him how to not follow rules. Uphold honor, laws, even draft and pass new ones—yes. But his heart led him another way now.

“But you can control what happens right here, right now,” she said, shifting her body closer to him.

“Sera, surely you don’t mean—” his sentence cut off when he caught the glint in her eyes.

But then she gently kissed the tip of his nose and lingered.

It would have been the most innocent show of affection if she didn’t linger so close to his mouth.

A reflection of his own longing. Alex knew he had to do something, anything, to bridge the gap that the dawn would bring.

His future had been pre-written for him and signed with ink on paper. But how could anything matter if he was there in the moment with the beauty that plucked on the strings of his heart as though she owned them?

The breeze swept into the alcove carrying the scent of the ocean—a scent of freedom that he’d only ever experienced with Sera.

Draci ! If he didn’t kiss her now, he might perish!

Alex leaned in slowly, his lips touching hers with a feather-light contact that sent a jolt of sparks through his.

This only ever happens with you.

Sera’s lips parted to welcome him. Her fingers found their way to the nape of his neck, threading through his hair.

The heat of her body enveloped him, a flicker of fire amidst the cool air.

The sound of the waves faded, leaving only the thunderous beat of his heart and the soft sigh that escaped her.

He pulled her onto his lap. If he could have drawn her body into his, he would have.

“Alex,” she mumbled onto his mouth.

“I never want this to end, Sera,” he repeated once more, this time with more conviction.

“Just don’t let it.” She stared up at him and every point of contact between them thrummed with a startling energy.

The idea of her absence left a hollow ache he couldn’t ignore. The realization filled him with determination so profound it seemed to echo across the walls of the cave. She was his, and he was irrevocably hers.

All he had to do was move the heavens, the mountains, and the oceans if he acted on it.

Alex’s resolve to take a gentle goodbye from Sera faded. It just wasn’t enough. It was time to tip his royal world upside down.

Consequences be damned.