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I want honesty and intimacy andlove.
Not yet. I’m not deluded. But in time…
It could happen for us, I’m sure of it. Hell, I only met Olympia earlier today and I’m already halfway there. I’m craving her presence, straining for the sound of her voice as I stride through the palace halls, wondering about her secrets and preferences and daydreaming of all the ways I could make her moan.
She looked so beautiful out there at the lakeside. The breeze tugged at her dark waves, her golden brown skin was so soft in the sunshine, and her lips parted as she gazed at me. As shesmiled.
I’m out of the study door before I can think straight, already striding through the halls. I rarely visit most of the rooms in the palace, preferring to keep to my own territory—the personal rooms in my wing. But Danika mentioned two guest suites when she spoke of the sisters earlier, and as I prowl along marble floors, my lurching stomach settles.
I’ll find her. We’ll put this right.
And this time, I’ll keep my hands—and lips—to myself.
* * *
Olympia is on the balcony of her suite, leaning her elbows against the wrought iron railing and frowning out across the landscape with fierce concentration. Her delicate eyebrows are pinched, her chin tucked to her chest like she’s bracing for a blow.
Her floral dress flutters around her legs, dancing on the breeze, and I stand behind her in silence for a long moment. Soaking up the sight of her before she realizes I’m here.
After a minute, there’s nothing else for it. I can’t be a royal creep.
“Have you called a cab?”
She whirls around with a gasp, and I nod at the distant road over her shoulder. “There’s no need to plan a getaway.” My hands are in my pockets, my posture casual, but inside I feel anything but. “If you want to leave, a palace driver will take you wherever you’d like to go. No hard feelings between us.”
Something pained flickers across her eyes, but Olympia swallows. “I’m not leaving.”
Thank god. “No?” It takes all my focus, but I keep my steps slow as I approach her. There’s a safe distance between us. A buffer of charged air. “A little birdie tells me you screamed at a tree.”
She huffs, cheeks flushing, and turns back to the grounds. “That little birdie is a snitch.”
I grin, leaning on the rail beside her. “Well, be fair. It was his tree.”
Her soft laugh makes my stomach swoop, and it’s comfortable, standing out here together. Just like the library was comfortable, and our time on the jetty too. Something about this woman’s presence sets me deeply at ease. I’m more relaxed than I can remember being for years, more settled and sure of myself than ever before.
Standing at her side, there’s nowhere I’d rather be. Nowhere else I belong.
Lord, I hope she feels the same way soon. Now that we’ve met, making my bride love me will be my life’s mission.
“If I’m not what you hoped for…” I trail off, watching her closely. She knows what I’m offering: a way out. Because yes, I want her love, but I won’t trap her with me. I want everything, but I want it freely given.
Olympia grips the railing tighter, but she stares resolutely at the horizon. “That is definitely not the problem, Your Highness.”
Good.
That’s good.
The sky is blushing pink, just like her cheeks, and the sun bleeds red as it sinks toward the treeline. The evening is drawing in, warm and balmy, and soon the palace driveways will be lit by headlights, the ballroom bustling with finely dressed bodies.
If she has any doubts, she needs to tell me now. After tonight, there’ll be no going back—not without a very public reversal.
And I wait, as patient as I can manage, but she says nothing.
Well, then.
My suit pants rustle as I pull the box from my pocket. It’s small and black, far too nondescript for what it represents. Throat tight, I prise it open.
Olympia stiffens when I pluck her hand from the railing, but she turns and spreads her fingers for me; lets me slide the ring past her knuckles, brown eyes fixed on mine.
