Page 15 of Sleet Princess

Lukesnickers. “Sure does.”

I wince. “So, that ended it?”

“After that, Ash got his dick pierced.” Luke winces. “Andthatput an end to it. No way was I chancing him winning again.”

I can’t help but bite my lip, thinking of the possibility.

I’ve never been with a guy who had a piercing down there, but I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t curious.

Water splashes my face.

Chapter 11

Luke

Twenty minutesin this woman’s presence, and she has me questioning if maybe I do want to get my dick pierced.

I shake my head.

No. No, I don’t want to do that.

“Now tell me about your ink,” I say, my voice a little deeper than usual. “I saw it in the gym.”

Natalie lowers her hand to her hip. “It’s a hummingbird.”

I can still only see the splash of teal peeking out from under her bikini bottoms, but now that she’s said that, I can totally picture that what I saw was a cute little bird’s head.

“Why a hummingbird?” I ask her.

She rolls her lips, like she’s deciding whether she’ll answer. “Did you know they’re a keystone species?”

My mouth pulls into an impressed frown. “I did not know that.”

Natalie nods. “Everyone knows what a hummingbird is. Knows that they’re pretty and that they’re fun to watch. But most people don’t know how important they are to the world.” She lifts a shoulder. “And I just like them.”

The shrug is meant to blow off the first part of her reasoning, but Ithink I get it.

My Princess is beautiful.

The world loves beautiful things.

The world loves to prop up beauty above all else.

But Natalie Wagner is more than just a pretty face.

And I’m thinking maybe the world hasn’t told her how much it needs her.

Something twists in my chest, and I resist the urge to press my hand over the ache.

That was too deep for vacation.

My eyes are drawn back to the water. “Can I see the rest of it?”

Her serious expression shifts, and she’s back to looking amused.

But she doesn’t answer, and I can’t help it when my hand reaches for her.

The waves distort my view of it. Of her. And I want to see everything.

---