Page 24 of Tempted By the Princess

While I was a tired and sweaty mess, Carrie looked perfectly comfortable. She wasn’t even sweating despite the unseasonably warm temperature.

“Do you hike often?”

“As much as I can,” she replied. “I love that we have so many trails within a short drive from Seattle.”

I took a long drink of water, glad that Carrie had suggested we both carry some.

“We used to hike with our parents,” she continued. “Mom and Dad would pack backpacks, and we’d hike up somewhere and have a picnic lunch.”

“Do your parents still live in Seattle?” I asked.

“Yeah. They’re spending the month in Arizona right now, helping my aunt who had surgery, but otherwise I usually see them regularly.”

“What about your sister?”

“She’s here too. She works at Phoenix Software.”

“Why does that sound familiar?” I asked.

“It’s one of the local success stories. Super smart lesbian starts one of the biggest software companies in the world while creating a company that values and openly embraces LGBTQ+ folks and women in general. Their CEO Madison Phoenix gives a ton of money to local charities, she seems like a great person.”

“Oh that’s great.”

“Tell me about your sister.”

Carrie handed me another piece of a protein bar, and I took a bite before answering.

“We’re about as different as two people can be, but we’ve always been close. She’s got this enormous responsibility as the future queen, but she’s never been resentful about it. She also never did a single thing to make me feel like I was less important because I’m the spare, unlike some other royal families.”

“Do y’all know each other?” she asked. “All the various royalty I mean?”

I shrugged. “Sooner or later you meet them all at state events or whatnot, but we aren’t friends.”

“What does your sister think about you living in Seattle?”

“She understands why I need to create my own life here, but she misses me. And I miss her. But we talk most days and get together a few times a year. She’s my best friend.”

Carrie turned to say something else, and I turned at the same time, and we both stilled, staring at each other for a long, charged moment.

Then we were kissing, mouths meeting roughly as our hands slid over each other’s bodies. I was immediately turned on, my core clenching and ready to go even though this wasn’t the time or the place. We kissed until we were both breathless, then pulled back reluctantly. The trail was pretty quiet, but we weren’t alone here.

“Should we start heading back down?” Carrie asked, her voice a little breathless. “Unless you’d like to head up to the next vista? There’s a great view up there and it’s only another mile or so.”

“We can head back,” I said so quickly that Carrie smirked.

The walk back to the car was a little easier because it was mostly downhill. We were near the end when we headed down an incline and I lost my footing, my shoe sliding in the mud. I cried out as I fell, sliding down to the bottom of the hill on my ass like something in a cartoon.

“Oh my God Genny, are you okay?” Carrie called as she hurried to catch up with me.

I couldn’t help it. I collapsed down on my back in the mud, stared up at the sky, and started to laugh.

Carrie dropped to her knees next to me, watching me carefully. “Are you hurt?”

“Just my pride,” I laughed.

She reached out a hand to help me up and instead I pulled her down. She landed on top of me with a thump that briefly knocked the air out of both of us.

“You’re a disaster, you know that right?” she asked.