AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I made it back. No one saw me—except Niall, and I don’t think he’ll say anything. To mention that he saw me would be to mention he was alone in an empty hallway with me late at night, which given his position with Liam, could open him up to all kinds of unfortunate speculation. It could even put his life in danger if my father or Connor thought he needed to be silenced.
Mutually assured destruction.I think Niall will keep what he saw tonight to himself. And as for me—
I reach down, tugging off the boots, letting out a sigh of relief when my sore, bare feet touch the carpeted floor. I yank the zipper of my dress down just as quickly, suddenly desperate to strip out of all of it, including the thong. When I’m naked in the middle of my hotel room, I ball up the clothing and shove it as deeply into one of my suitcases as I can, hiding the evidence of what I did tonight.
And then I go and get into the shower.
It feels like bliss. I stand under the hot water for a long time, letting it stream over my hair and face, washing the scents of Connor and sweat and sex down the drain. My body feels sore in new ways, and I can’t help but think ahead to my potential future wedding night and all the ways I might be newly sore after that.
Just the thought sends a throb of heat to my tender clit. An ache spreads through me, and though I think of Connor, broad and muscled and arrogant behind me in that room, I think of something else, too.
He’s made it very clear that he plans to have lovers after we’re married. That I should never, under any circumstances, expect fidelity from him. But he’d offered me something too, something that I would never have expected from a man in our world.
My own freedom, once I give him a son. The freedom to take lovers myself, to experience pleasure in all its forms, to not limit myself to only one man for my entire life, just as he never has and never will limit himself to one woman.
Unbidden, the first man who springs into my head is the one who cornered me coming out of the elevator.
Niall Flanagan.
It’s a ridiculous thought, of course. I doubt he’d even really touch me—it’s a dangerous thing to do. By then, I’d be Connor’s wife, and him still Liam’s closest friend and confidante. He might not even believe that Connor would allow me to do such a thing.
But what if he didn’t care?Connor looks at me with desire, but I can’t shake the way Niall looked at me in that hallway…with that flicker of longing that he hid so quickly, as if it were real, and he was ashamed of it.
Even if it’s not Niall, though, I can see the possibilities opening up in front of me.Connor, you fool,I think as I tilt my head back under the water. Before this, I’d never considered any lover but my future husband.
Something is awake inside of me now, though. Desires I never knew I had are coursing through me, and I no longer see a reason why I shouldn’t take advantage of them.
I’ll wed, bed, and provide Connor an heir.
And then, if he insists on doing as he pleases, I’ll do the same.
If the future King wants to play this game, so can his queen.
