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The prince looked at her, but it was like he wasn’t seeing her at all. “I’ve never fallen in love. But I might have.” The prince’s odd smile didn’t reach his eyes, but somehow the sight was more painful than terrifying, and it made her hurt.
For him.
His hands started to move again, but instead of caressing her body, the prince reached for the body wash and started soaping her body with a scrub.
“Prince—-”
Instead of answering her, he turned her around on her back and shampooed her hair. When he was done, she sensed him moving, reaching for the controls, and a moment later, the metal plate above the tub began to rain hot water on them.
Oh.
It felt like a magical moment, a beautiful moment, and she would have loved it completely if not—-
The prince’s fingers threaded through her hair, rinsing it tenderly and efficiently, and for some reason tears started to burn her eyes.
“What’s wrong, prince?” Fawn whispered.
But instead of answering her, the prince only said quietly, “I’m done. You can go now.”
Fawn dragged oxygen into her burning lungs. If she were smart, she would have done exactly what the prince said.
But she wasn’t smart.
Grant’s infidelity, which she now knew must have been going on for some time, proved that.
Even as embarrassment turned her entire body rosy, she forced herself to turn around and meet the prince’s gaze, stammering, “It’s m-my turn.”
The prince remained silent, watching her with hooded eyes as her breasts half rose out of the water when she reached for the shampoo.
His scrutiny made her fingers clumsy, and the shampoo bottle almost slipped out of her hold. Even so, she told him bravely, “Y-you can’t scare me.” It was a lie, though. His silence daunted her, but…somehow, she just couldn’t make herself leave him alone.
Something about him called out to her, telling her that the man the whole world seemed to think was invincible –
The Prince of Darkness—-
This man who had been there for her when she was about to break—-
Something about the way he looked now told Fawn that he needed her.
Knowing that, how could she leave him?
How?
She reached for his hair, and the prince lowered his head as she began to shampoo his head. When she was done rinsing his hair, she reached for the wash and scrub—-
“You don’t have to do this.” The prince’s tone was cold.
Her fingers tightened around the scrub. “I know.” She shakily reached for his shoulders. “B-but I’m doing it anyway.” She scrubbed his chest and his back, her heart alternately twisting and beating as her hands came into contact with the silky hardness of his body.
When it was time to clean that part of his body, she hesitated.
“Go on.” The prince’s voice was still cold.
“I w-will.” She took a deep breath, saying unevenly, “But b-before I do it—-” Raising her head, Fawn made herself look into his eyes.
His beautiful green eyes that used to glitter with such life—-
And now they were not.
“Tell me about her,” she whispered.
The prince’s jaw clenched. “Why?”
“Because you seem to need to—-”
The prince swore.
Fawn flinched.
The prince’s face hardened even more at the sight.
If it had been any other girl, the prince would have either thrown her out of the room or kissed her to shut her up.
He didn’t do stuff like this.
He never did.
He was the Prince of Darkness, and people weren’t supposed to get under his skin.
But Fawn…
The way she could see so easily past his mask—-
The way she could destroy his defenses without malice—-
Fawn reminded him of her.
Georgie.
“I don’t have any first love,” he heard himself say harshly.
She asked shakily, “But you might have?”
His lips twisted. “She died before I could find out if I had it in me to love her.”
The scrub fell from her limp fingers. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“I killed her.” The prince’s tone was dispassionate.
And somehow, that hurt even more.
“Prince, you don’t have—-”
“Her name was Georgie.”
So cold. His voice was so cold, and God, it hurt. She hurt. For him.
“She was a childhood friend, and she was the only girl who saw the good in me.”
Fawn’s heart started to crack. The prince was talking like no one else could see him the same way, and it wasn’t true.
“Knowing what my biological parents suffered – knowing that they died to get me out safe, it made me want to do good. And those first years with my foster parents, I tried…I goddamn tried my very best to do what I could to…help.” His lips twisted. “I was an idealistic fool back then. I thought genuinely wanting to make the world a better place was enough. But I was wrong. You can’t help when most people around you are just waiting for you to stumble and prove to them that you’re what they expected.”
The prince inhaled sharply. “But Georgie was…different. She believed in me, she was in love with me, and because of that I was just a little bit nicer.” The prince’s voice became tight. “I thought I was being kind by letting her closer, but instead I ended up endangering her life because of it.”
