idiot. “You heard that?”
“I did.” He smirked, which should have looked cocky on him, but it was oddly endearing. “I can’t believe you still refuse to use curse words. It’s fucking adorable.”
I rolled my eyes at his gratuitous use of...that word. “Habit.”
“Even though you’re no longer an innocent little virgin?”
I stopped dead in my tracks, heat traveling from the tip of my nose to the ends of my toes. “Flynn! How—what—I don’t—ugh.”
He laughed, his body shaking with it. “You should see your face right now. Like I said, adorable.”
I smacked him on the arm. “I can’t believe you said that.”
“Well, I’m not wrong, am I? You and Killian...” He hesitated, as though to search for a term I wouldn’t find offensive. “Engaged in adult relations?”
Removing my hand from his grasp, I burrowed both hands into the folds of my skirt. “How is that any of your business?”
Flynn stepped forward until we were practically toe-to-toe. “I’m not trying to embarrass you, Genny. You’ve clearly made Killian happy, and he needs that right now more than ever.”
Genny. My heart skipped a beat at the nickname. I couldn’t help it. I had always reacted to Flynn, and I probably always would.
He tugged on a strand of my hair and curled it around his fingers. “But you being with Killian doesn’t mean I’m going to stop wanting you.”
I sucked in a deep breath and waited for him to say something more.
But...he didn’t. He merely gave me a smile that built and built before stepping back and taking my hand again. “We better get in there before Ronan sends out a search party.”
For my heart? Because I was fairly certain it had jumped out of my chest and skipped down the hall.
Flynn wants me.
If I was more experienced, I’d probably know exactly what to do with that information. Instead, I let it soak into me like the sun on a summer day.
Are you two ever going to stop flirting and get your asses down to the undercroft? At the sudden sound of Ronan’s voice in my head, I jumped.
And, then, realizing what he must have overheard, I hid my face behind my hands. Holy hedgehogs wasn’t a strong enough reaction, so I was going rogue.
“Damn it, Flynn,” I said, peeking at him through my fingers. “How much of that did he hear?”
“Damn it? Really?” He hung his head. “Such a dirty mouth for such a pretty girl.”
I dropped my hands and pushed at his chest. “Stop playing around. I’m serious.”
“It’s possible I was broadcasting our entire conversation to Ronan and Killian. Still am, actually.”
I stared at him, unable to form a response. He’d done what?
“Why would you do that?”
He finally released my hair but didn’t step back. “Because this is a conversation the four of us need to have, and I decided now was the time to have it.”
“Now?” I croaked, my stomach twisting. Even though I already looked like a different person, I wanted to run and hide.
Imogen, Killian said softly into my mind, it’s okay. None of us are upset. I already knew Flynn wanted you. He has for a long time.
TMI, brother, Flynn replied, his cheeks turning slightly pink.
Ronan snorted. Like you’re one to talk. You’re the prince of too much information.
And you’re the prince of—
Okay, okay, Killian interrupted. Not helping. Imogen, what I think Flynn is trying to communicate is that if you are interested in more than one of us, it’s all right. You don’t have to worry about us.
Avoiding Flynn’s gaze, I asked, What does that mean, exactly? That I can—
I cut myself off. No matter how I asked the question, it sounded presumptuous. Maybe it was cowardly, but I wanted them to spell it out for me.
Ronan answered this time. It means, anything you want from the three of us, you can have. No questions. No guilt. No jealousy.
I never agreed to no questions, Flynn said, lifting my chin to make sure I witnessed his grin.
Killian sighed. Fine. Flynn can ask questions, but that doesn’t mean you have to answer them.
Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? I couldn’t resist asking. Kings and princes taking multiple wives instead of three of them sharing one?
As soon as the word “wives” made it into my sentence, I cringed. That was the problem with telepathic communication—no brain to mouth filter.
Maybe, Ronan replied, his voice sounding softer than usual. But none of those royals knew you.
Imogen
Because it would bring up too many questions, I was seated away from the princes