of the cell.
I’ve got to think about the best way to break this to her. Somehow, I don’t think she’ll respond well to me bending at the knee and offering my hand in marriage. Of course, the look on her face would probably be worth it for that alone.
We reach the door, and the guard does a double take when he looks behind my shoulder.
“The king has commanded me to keep the girl here.”
The king is an old bat.
“And now he has commanded me to bring her to him.”
The guard fixes me with a doubtful stare, and I cock my head at him.
Go ahead. Call me a liar.
He won’t, of course, but chances are he’ll probably get suspicious if I never return with her. Oh well. Daisy and I walk past him up the stairs into the courtyard. She throws me a look over her shoulder, her eyes wide.
“Are you busting me out?”
“Hardly. I have a proposal for you.” My lips pull into a slight smirk at “proposal.” Damn, I’m such an ass.
“What is it?”
“Not here.”
I lead her under the cover of darkness, slipping into a passage through the courtyard. Then I bring her through the maze of gift shops, the armories that haven’t been used for centuries until I find the stables. They’re probably the most well-kept stables in existence. I don’t know any other place that makes an actual effort in keeping the stables sparkling clean. Even the horses look immaculate. Their hides gleam as though they were spritzed with oil. Daisy looks into a stall, raising herself on her toes and making her cute ass perk up. The black Thoroughbred inside the stall bows his magnificent head, and Daisy smiles. She looks at me, excitement flushing her cheeks.
“Are we going to steal a horse and ride away from the castle?”
“I’m not stealing you away, love. I just want to show you something. Or did you want me to steal you away to ravish you?”
She rolls her eyes as I walk down the row of stalls, finding the stable hand nearly sleeping with his head in his hand. He jumps to his feet as soon as he recognizes me.
“I’d like to take a short ride with my friend.”
“Of course, my prince. Two horses?”
“No, just one. Shadowfax.”
“Very good, sir.”
Daisy gives me a wry grin as the stable hand disappears into a stall. “Shadowfax? Isn’t that from Lord of the Rings?”
“You bet your sweet American ass it is.”
Moments later, Daisy’s face lights up in transports of delight as the stable hand leads a horse from the stables. She’s as white as fresh snow, except for the insides of her ears and her snout, which looks as though she stuck her nose in a bin full of charcoal. Daisy runs her hands over the horse’s hide.
“Will you require your riding boots?”
“No, they won’t be necessary. We won’t be gone long. Thank you, Eric.”
I grab the pommel of the saddle and use the stirrup to swing my body over the horse. Then I sit back and extend my hand to Daisy. She grabs it, and I help her mount. I get a nice view of her ass as she climbs over the saddle, and then I wrap my arms around her to grab the reins. I hear the catch in her breath when she feels my breath on her ear.
“Relax and sit back, or you’ll fall.”
I nudge Shadowfax with my heel, and she trots forward. Daisy lets out a squeal as her back hits my chest. We ride out of the castle, and the guards open the gate the moment they see me. Shadowfax’s hooves clip-clop loudly over the cobblestone road, and I pull immediately on the reins to veer to the right, bypassing the road to cut through a forest still lit by the floodlights on the castle.
“Oh my God. Slower, please. Slower!”
I laugh into her ear, enjoying the warmth of her body against mine. “You sound like you’re giving me directions during sex.”
“I’m sorry that your perverted mind immediately jumps to sex.”
“It does when you’re around, love.”
“God, I’m so sick of you saying that!”
I hold the reins in one hand, the other wrapped around her waist. I yank her into my chest, feeling her wild heartbeat underneath my fingers, and her ice-cold cheek slides against mine. Daisy sinks into me with a sigh, and I turn my head, brushing my lips over her ear.
“Tell me now you don’t want to fuck me.”
“I d-don’t actually.”
“Then why are you stammering?”
“It’s cold.”
“You’re on