Page 97 of Twisted Royals

“I might not have been around you for the past few years, but like I said, I knew who you were before you ever reached the door. To say your appearance shocked the hell out of me would be an understatement. I was ready to haul your ass all the way back to Emberly until you took off that ridiculous coat and I realized you were all grown up. I had to know what you were thinking so I told Jenny to get you to fill out a form instead of asking you for your membership card and to bring you to me. Nate figured since he didn’t recognize you, you’d not recognize either of us.”

“Ned Logan is Nathan Lockwood, isn’t he? Never mind, of course he is. You two have always been as thick as thieves.”

“True, but though he really wanted to turn you right back around and send you home, he agreed to let me handle you.”

“Handle me? I don’t know whether to thank you or slap you,” I said.

He grinned and quipped, “I vote for thanking me. But seriously, Nathan and I opened Revelation for the exact same reason you chose it. You don’t have to be a royal to feel you live your life under a microscope. Well-known or obscure, all people feel the need for a modicum of privacy to call their own. And if that privacy includes the desire to play in a kink-friendly environment knowing they won’t find their faces plastered all over a tabloid the next day, they come to places like Revelation.”

Everything he said made sense and made me grant him a bit more grace. Sure, he’d left me, but I’d still been a child. One couldn’t expect him to sit in his castle, twiddling his thumbs for a dozen years, waiting for his fiancée to grow up.

“That’s a good reason,” I allowed. “Though I’m still leaning toward the club was built because you are kinky yourself.”

He laughed. “Like I said, I’m a Dom and we both know you’re about as submissive as they come. And in,”—he pulled back far enough to glance at the watch on his wrist—“in exactly fourteen minutes and twenty-three seconds, you will be a full-fledged adult who has a God-given right to make your own choices.” He lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles before releasing it and slowly sitting back. Crossing his arms over his chest, his lips slowly curled into a smile that had me squirming for a different reason. “So the real question is, exactly what does my princess really want for her birthday?”

If I’d fainted before, I didn’t know what to call what was happening to me now. He not only knew it was my birthday, he knew the exact time I’d been born. Who did that? I was tingling all over. My breasts ached and I was praying that silk was moisture-resistant as I was pretty sure I was going to be leaving a wet spot on the chair. It felt like every hair on my body was standing on end, the electricity sizzling between us practically visible to the naked eye. I could hear the sound of my blood rushing in my veins and feel my heart beating out of my chest. I tried to answer, but my mouth was too dry to speak. I ran the tip of my tongue over my lips and heard what sounded like a feral growl coming from across the table. Forget wet spot, I’d be leaving a wading pool if he didn’t stop making that noise and looking at me like he was starving and I was…

“Dessert!”

He looked startled for all of about a nanosecond. Then he burst out laughing so hard he almost fell out of his chair. In fact, he was making so much noise that people at other tables began to chuckle and laugh as well. I felt my face heating as our table became the center of attention once more.

“You’re not a very nice man, Prince Picard,” I softly hissed, when he took a breath only to shake his head and laugh again.

He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and then closed them and took a huge gulp of air and didn’t exhale.

Good grief, now people were staring and most likely taking bets on how long he could hold his breath. Or maybe wagering how long it would take for his head to burst like a balloon.

Crossing my arms, I said, “It wasn’t funny!”

His eyes popped open and I swore I could see his pupils shaking as if they were laughing as well.

“I’m going to the ladies’ room,” I declared, standing and doing the best imitation of stomping my heels would allow. Once there, I took my time and that included twisting to check the back of my dress in the mirror above the sink. Finding it dry, I didn’t know whether to be relieved or saddened it wasn’t wet. I discovered I couldn’t say the same for my panties. They were more than a little damp. After emptying my bladder, I couldn’t bear the thought of pulling them back up. Instead, I slipped them off and was about to push them into the trash container, when I realized I was still wearing his jacket. Smiling, I wadded them into a ball and stuffed them into one of the pockets. It would serve him right when he stuck his hands in to warm them only to find a soggy, ruby-red thong.

I washed my hands far longer than the suggested two minutes, then used my fingers as a comb and ran them through my hair. With nothing left to do and determined to ignore the laughing hyena disguised as a prince, I pushed through the door, my head held high and started across the floor. I was only halfway there when I saw there was a crowd gathered around our table. Oh god, he’d laughed so hard he’d had an aneurism!

“Max!” I yelled as I ran toward him with my heart in my throat. I almost stumbled into the ring of people, except they parted and let me through. Coming to a halt, I stood in shock as every single person in the restaurant began to sing Happy Birthday, the loudest voice belonging to the man I’d last seen having an apoplexy. His eyes glowed as he reached out and grabbed me, turning me in his arms so I could see Miss Susie and some huge cowboy walking toward us with not one dessert, but an entire tray of them, the flames of what I suspected would be exactly twenty-one candles flickering in the air. I felt the first tears welling as the crowd cheered enthusiastically when the song came to an end.

“Happy birthday!” Miss Susie shouted as she threw her arms around me the best she could since Max was still holding me up.

Total strangers chorused her words and then “make a wish” and “blow out the candles” were being shouted.

“Come on over here, sugar,” the cowboy said. “Blow out these candles before they start melting. Nanna Pearl will take a slice out of my hide if they ruin her pie.”

So this behemoth was Smokey himself. “We can’t have that,” I said, giggling as I was released in order to lean toward the tray. When my hair slid over my shoulders, I started to push it back only to find it being gathered into the hand I’d just been holding.

“Can’t have you catching on fire either,” Max said. “Take a really deep breath and blow me.”

My tummy clenched as a completely different vision popped into my mind, but with the crowd’s hooting and laughter creating a ruckus and Smokey’s deep chuckle at Max’s faux paus, I blew. It took me three tries as I had started giggling when Miss Susie actually slapped her hand against the side of Max’s head and declared him a Neanderthal. I was still laughing when I impulsively threw my arms as far as I could reach around Smokey’s very impressive middle and squeezed.

“Thank you, this is the best birthday ever!”

“Ah, darlin’, thank you. Now you sit your sweet self down and start eating. I’m gonna go get the ice cream.”

I looked at the ridiculous amount of desserts on the tray, and even though some were indeed sporting a few waxy flakes from the dripping candles, every single one looked delicious. With all the peanuts and ribs I’d eaten, I knew there was no way I’d ever make even a dent in them. Turning around, I smiled at the crowd. “Desserts on me. Come grab something… wait!” I held out my hand as if that would be sufficient to hold back a hungry hoard. I grabbed the plate that held a huge slice of what had to be Smokey’s nanna’s pecan pie and set it on our table. Dropping my hand, I gestured toward the tray. “Enjoy!”

By the time Smokey returned with a huge container, the tray had been emptied of every plate. Miss Susie handed out spoons and people lined up to get a scoop of vanilla-bean ice cream added to the top of their chosen dessert. I was standing there just taking it all in when I felt something brush my lips. Startled a bit, I jerked back, then smiled and leaned forward. I opened my mouth to allow Max to feed me a bite of pie. When the flavor of warm spices and gooey, sweet filling exploded on my tongue, I almost swooned again.

“Oh my god, that’s the best thing I’ve ever had in my mouth!” I said. Granted, I might have been a tad bit too enthusiastic as conversation stopped before the laughing began all over again.

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