well, until he heard the sound of water running in the en-suite bathroom.
His heart began to beat hard like an adolescent boy—-
But the way his chest clenched hard was the kind of pain only an adult who had loved and lost could ever know.
The prince opened the door to the bathroom—-
Fawn stood in front of him behind a glass wall, water cascading down on her naked body from the water.
She asked breathlessly, “Are you here to k-keep your promise?”
Ah.
For one long moment he could only stare at her, and for once she didn’t shy away from his gaze. She stood in front of him, completely exposed, her lips trembling, her pink nipples pouting, and her sweet tender folds moist for another reason than water.
It was as if she was offering herself to him—-
Even if they both knew she had been right.
He had been pushing her away.
He had been trying to end things between them.
And yet—-
How...how the hell could he take her, knowing what it would mean for Fawn?
How, dammit, how?
What happened to Georgie could one day happen to her, too.
And if it did—-
In front of him, Fawn lifted her hand. “P-prince.”
He jerked at the sight of Bennett’s engagement ring on her finger.
“I’m s-still with Grant, and probably after tonight...” She laughed nervously. “Some will also think I’m cheating on him with N-Nathan.”
“Probably.”
And yet the prince still didn’t move.
“Y-you know what that means, right?”
“That you’re a shameless woman in the guise of an angel?”
She choked back another nervous laugh. “P-prince.”
He could only stare at her, all the while his heart beating faster and faster while his chest kept aching like hell.
If only he weren’t the Prince of Darkness.
If only.
“Fawn—-”
The bleakness in his voice terrified her, and she knew if she let him finish speaking, it would be all over.
And she couldn’t let it happen.
Not when she had gone so far—-
She hadn’t come this far just to give him up without a fight.
“Take my virginity, prince.” It was her last gamble, and she was going to damn well take it. “Keep your word.” She stepped out of the shower with trembling legs.
“Please.” Their gazes met.
She didn’t understand why he was pushing her away, but she only knew he was doing it, and that the prince had to be doing it for a reason.
He had to.
She couldn’t, wouldn’t accept the fact that he did it even knowing how much it would hurt her.
“Please.” She choked back a desperate sob at the sound of her voice.
It was almost like she was begging him, and wasn’t that so damn pathetic?
The prince was white-faced.
No. Goddamn it. No.
She sounded almost like the way Grant Bennett had pleaded with him—-
And it wasn’t right.
Bennett was a sinner, and so was he. Both of them had sins to pay for in hell.
But Fawn was different.
She was a living breathing angel, and it wasn’t goddamn right that the prince had reduced her to begging—-
“I’m sorry.” The words were torn out of the prince in a harsh groan, remorse burning him alive as he realized that he had practically forced her to suffer almost the same way Grant Bennett had suffered—-
It wasn’t goddamn right.
She didn’t deserve this.
“I’m sorry.” In the next second, the prince’s long-legged stride had him reaching her, and he swept her up in his arms.
“I’m sorry.”
And then he was carrying her to bed, laying her down, but when he started to pull away, her arms wound around him in sudden seeming desperation.
“No!”
He started, bemused. “Fawn—-”
Her arms tightened. “I d-don’t want you to go away.”
Ah. That she was still afraid even now killed him, and his voice was soft and tender as he asked, “Then how will I take off my clothes?”
Oh. She swallowed, and hiding her face in the crook of his neck, she whispered shakily, “Then you really are going to take my virginity now?”
When his lips moved to touch her cheek, the tears started to fall, and as the wetness reached down his neck, he knew that she already knew.
But even so, he answered her because she deserved to hear the words.
“You didn’t have to ask the second time, parthena mou.” He started to pull away, and this time her arms loosened enough for him to lift his head and their gazes to meet.
“I’ll take what’s mine—-”
A ragged sound escaped her.
“And I’ll make it impossible for you to forget a single second of it.”
Ooooooooh.
When he started to move away, her arms fell back, and she watched him obsessively, her gaze clinging to his every movement. The prince