Loving a Prince Charming - By Danielle Monsch Page 0,20
most of all for your integrity. I love that you never, ever go back on your word. I love that when you proclaim something, gods can’t stop you from making it happen. Because of that, I have such peace knowing our kingdom could not be in better hands. I know you will be the type of king who, centuries from now, they’ll still hold up as an example and proclaim your rule to be one all rulers should emulate.”
Her hands trailed over the line of his jaw, then reversed course and burrowed into his hair. Seth willed himself not to tremble. Her touch was fire, the burn of it harrowing and exhilarating but oh so dangerous.
“In the morning, you are going to go to Rosamund and fulfill your promise. And me? I’m going to go far, far away. I have to, because I can’t stay here and be close to you while you live and love someone else – I’ll either become a bitter old woman who hates everything, or I’d try to make you something I despise, and that is a man who will not honor his word. And I don’t want either of those things to happen. So I need to go, and you need to let me.”
He wrapped her in his arms and burrowed his face into her neck. She was right, she was right, she was right. His head shook and his arms tightened further and the smell of woodsmoke on her skin buried itself into his brain.
Kira pulled back, her palms flat against his chest. “But before that happens, I want one night with you. Not to trick you and not to try to make you love me. What I want is one stolen memory that I can keep buried in my heart for the rest of my life.”
The tick of the clock, the thud of his heart, the crackle of the fire – all were loud in his ears as her words penetrated the layers of pain her looming departure had erected. “A night?” He left the question open to not trap her.
She leaned up and brushed a gentle kiss across his lips. Hers were so soft, a contrast to the strong lines of her face and body that years of training had given her. “One night where I can make love with you. One night with no obligations or promises or unavoidable journeys to be made. Just two best friends. Just us.”
“Just us.” The perfect life – he squashed that thought, throttled it. No, it was one night. It was just them. And it would be the memory he’d keep next to his heart through the long years ahead.
Decision made, the weight on his chest lightened enough that he could make himself believe it had disappeared. Seth stood and reached down to grab Kira around her waist and without waiting for her to speak, threw her onto the bed.
“Seth!” she squealed, laughter and shock in her tone at his unexpected movement.
“What?” He jumped on the bed and landed on his knees next to her. “My understanding is this is where you do that sort of thing.”
“Mine as well,” she replied, her smile wide. “Your first time?”
“Yep,” he replied, though of course she knew that. She knew everything, just as he did for her. He had only ever wanted her anyway. No other woman at court ever came close to tempting him. And even though he knew the answer, he asked anyway. “Your first time?”
“You know it,” she answered cheerfully back, but as their gazes met, for one moment her face went slack, losing the breezy humor to show a gravitas, an awareness of this moment and all it contained… and all that was ending with it. He froze in the act of reaching for her, waiting to see where it led.
But it lasted for only a moment. She shook it off and let their familiar closeness overpower any darker emotions, her eyes returning to the soft, laughing look they had shared before. She leaned back on her elbows and stared up at him, her mouth challenging. “So how exactly are you going to dazzle me with this sex thing?”
Kira always said she followed where he led, but in this time and place, he followed her. There would be nothing dark allowed to touch this night.
No, not this night. Not a night he had been fantasizing about since he was old enough to have fantasies, and not when Kira was spread out before him