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She looks skeptical. “You mean if I grew up as a prince in a castle with both of my parents at home making sure I had everything I ever wanted and needed?”
“That's not exactly how it went,” I tell her.
“Oh?” Some of the cockiness fades from her expression.
“Sure, I grew up in a castle, with everything money can buy, and yes, my parents both lived there. But that's where what you know about me ends.” My gaze falls on her hazel eyes. We’re moving along the dance floor with an ease I don’t often feel with women. Neither of us seems to be thinking about what our bodies are doing. They’re just moving in sync with one another.
I imagine that’s how it’ll be when we make love. Images rise to my mind, and I swallow hard, trying to will them down. That will come. But first, I need to go slow. I need to let this woman get to know me, so our love will be deeper than what our bodies want.
“The only thing my parents really cared about were their lovers. They didn't care about me. They didn't really even care about the kingdom. They cared about making each other jealous by adding more and more lovers to their beds. After I walked in on one or two orgies, I stopped going to their rooms altogether.” I've brought her closer to me, so close that I am looking over her shoulder and not into her eyes.
We dance in silence for a few minutes before she pulls back and just looks at me. “Is that true?”
I try not to be insulted. “It is. In all honesty, the only time I’m not lonely is when I’m with Sulien and the other princes. We were brothers in all things. With them, for the first time, I had people who cared about what I thought. People who cared when I was hurt or sad. And I think, in many ways, I gave that to them too. We princes have been spoiled in so many ways, and yet, we’ve been hurt in so many ways, too.” I laugh. “That might sound stupid when considering all the children who are beaten, who have starved, who have never had a roof over their heads.”
“No,” the word is just a whisper, and our eyes meet again. “Pain is pain. You don’t have to compare it to someone else’s to justify that what you went through was hard.”
I stare. “You’re as brilliant as you are beautiful.” And compassionate. And understanding.
She sighs, and her hand slips down my chest, causing my heart to race faster. “I hope I’m just smart enough to stay away from the four of you. You’re pure trouble.”
I shudder. I don’t know why. “Is trouble a bad thing?”
Her eyes darken, but she looks away from me. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”
For some reason, I feel proud. I put my hand on hers, and we spin. “What I want most out of my marriage is love. I want to love my wife and my children, and even the other princes, since we’re all now connected through you.”
“So you're okay being a one-woman man while I'm a four-man woman?” The smile on her face is big and bright, and I laugh.
“That's what the stars had in order for us. I have to be okay with it, and I really think I am.” Having wives and children is normally the time when princes separate and focus on their own family. In our situation, we wouldn’t have to do that. We’d have friendship, a wife, and children, without losing anything.
“I think I'm becoming more okay with it too,” she tells me before resting her head on my chest.
Is she really?My steps feel lighter.Is she opening herself up to the idea of us? Can she see how she can have love, stability, and faithfulness in our marriage?
“I’m glad,” I tell her, planting a kiss on her head. “The only way this works is if you are happy.”
I swear she’s smiling against my chest. “Happy? What a strange notion?” But that’s all she says.
“You know you’re the envy of every woman in the land, don’t you?” Every eye in the room is on us, the tension from the women palpable. But I don’t care. This is my woman, my mate, they’ll have to accept that their princes are taken. There’s no other choice.
“They’re probably only excited about the four dicks that I can’t escape from,” she counters.
It's now my turn to throw my head back and laugh. This woman is different, and I delight in it.
“What are you excited about then, if not the four dicks?” I ask, letting my hand slide a little further down her back.
She shrugs. “I can't say exactly, but I do know if I accept this… if I agree to this whole four royal weddings thing, it’ll be nice to know I’m safe. That my father and grandmother are safe. And that if I have kids one day, they’ll have love and stability too.”
“You will. I swear it.” I promise her.Another promise. One I intend to keep.
When our eyes meet again, she looks different. Her expression has changed. I freeze, not quite understanding what she’s thinking, but understanding quickly dons on me when she stands on her tippy toes and places her lips on mine.
The tremor I feel through my whole body when our lips touch is unlike anything I've ever felt before. It's like being kissed for the very first time in my life, and it sets me ablaze. My fingers grip her body, and I pull her as close to me as I possibly can. She opens her mouth, inviting me in, and it takes everything inside of me not to growl in response when our tongues touch and glide across each other. She tastes like the sweetest fruit I've ever had, ripened in the sun.
She lets a small moan escape, and I devour her. My kiss frantic. I can’t get enough of her, and I never want this moment to end. I want to spend the rest of my life kissing Cassia.
The ballroom fades away, we’re pressed against a door lit only by candlelight. My body presses her against the wood, and her legs spread just enough that I push my erection between them frantically. She gasps, and my fingers sink into her hips as I bounce her against me.
