BOUND BY DUTY CLAIMED BY DESIRE.

CHAPTER ONE“OH My darling,oh my darling,Benjy is mine , you're mucky,oh,so it's Benjy's bathe -time.Elena chirrruped away, pushing the laden buggy along the narrow country lane as dusk gathered.crows were crowing overhead in in the trees near the top of the heel, and the last light of day dwindled in the west , towards the sea.It was only late spring and the primoses gleamed palely on the veggies and clustered on the green grass .The upper part was made of stunted beech,it's branches moved by the prevailing west wind which was combing along the lane and whipping her hair into a frizz , though she fastened it back as tightly as she could.But what did she care about her awful hair, charity clothes and her total pale looks?,Ben didn't, and he was all she cared about in this world.“Not mucky , mummy.Sandy’,Ben corrected her.Keep singing’,Ben instructed.She obeyed. At least Ben was an uncritical audience,she has no singing voice at all,she knew but for her five- years old son, that

CHAPTER THREE Good morning ’Rafael walked into the living room. Ben was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room occupied with a pile of brightly coloured bricks. His aunt was beside him,he modded to her greetings and turned his attention back to Ben.‘What are you making? he asked his nephew.The tallest tower in the world’.Ben announced.Rafael hovered around his nephew, taking notice of the way his aunt immediately shrank away Elena moved backwards across and lifted herself into a nearby armchair.she has hoped,at the fact that she and Ben would have the breakfast room to themselves,that it meant prince Rafael had gone.She wished he had.She felt awkward with him there, Even without a drop of royal blood in him,he would have been impossible to ignore.By day,he seemed taller and his dashing looks automatically drew her attention. He was wearing jeans, open- necked shirt, clearly handmade.Immediately she felt the full force of how shabbily she was dressed.At least, apart

CHAPTER FIVE Rafael was in his bedroom,the phone rang in his ear.He stood with one extended, resting his hand on the folded wooden sash window, from where he stood,he could see the gardens.At the other end of the phone line, Rafael's brother was speaking.What do you mean,she won't give him up? She's nothing more than his aunt, what right does she have?‘A watertight legal one's, replied Rafael dryly.There was a pause . Then Luca spoke.‘she wants more money,I get it?’. His voice was sharp.‘The boy is only her nephew’, his brother insisted.‘She raised him as her son, and he regards her as his mother. Which legally,she is.She adopted him at birth and if she does not want to part with him,we have to accept that’.There's nothing we can do about that. We may not like it, but that's the way it is.Our only way forward is for her to live in San Valderra with the boy.I have to persuade her of that, and I will do my best to do so.I'll report back to our father,he won't like that bu

CHAPTER SEVEN THE COST OF THE THRONE The windows of the car was tinted,so that although the occupants could see outside,no one could see inside.“They are used to the car's of the royal family on the roads “, Rafael explained,as the car wound it's slow way through the narrow streets of the city towards the royal palace.‘Does anyone else know that we are coming here? asked Lizzy .Rafael shook his head.‘The pavements would be mobbed with paparazzi if they knew ’, he said.Eventually there will be an official statement from the palace, confirming both Ben's existence and yours and also officially recognizing him as my brother's son and a member of the royal family.The car drew to a halt infront of a huge double door at the courtyard. As it stopped the doors were thrown open and two footmen emerged .Prince Rafael got out first , then turned turn to help lift Ben out and offer his hand to Elena .she managed to step out of the car without taking it.One of the footmen stood beside th

She felt as if she falling,into a deep bottomless pit. All she had to cling to was Ben. And it was imperative she did ,to keep hold of him , never ever to loosen her hold on him.Her eyes went to the man standing beside her in the stone built church,his expression drawn and shattered.Trust me,he had said.Could she really trust him? Was he really rescuing her or simply tricking her again?But how could he be tricking her? He was prepared to do something that would change his life for ever, something so drastic.He had disobeyed his father, knocked his own brother down,so that he could rescue her. So that he could get Ben and her away to safety.The priest was staring to speak. There had been a low voiced, urgent conversation in the car between the prince and his bodyguard.A frail elderly man, he stood before them now,clapsing their hands together with his and intoning words she did not understand, but which she knew, were binding her in holy matrimony to the man at her side.It was