Page 26 of Royally Tempted

I was nervous, of course. And freaking out a little bit. But also, I was floating. I was head-over-heals for three strange men, and I didn’t even know who theywere.

The thought gave me pause, that little warning voice inside finally being heard.

“I need to know who you are,” I said quietly.

They froze, looking up at me.

“I know the club is anonymous and all that, but…” I shook my head. “Before we do this, and before this goes any further and before I get lost any more, I need to know.”

They glanced at each other.

“If not, that’s okay, really,” I reached out and squeezed two of their hands. “But if that’s the case, I don’t know if I can do this.”

“We’re not going to hurt you, Emma,” one said quietly.

“No, I know that.” I smiled. “It’s not that, it’s just…there’s a lot of feelings going on inside of me, and trying to deal with them while you’re still wearing masks and me not knowing your names, it’s just maybe a bit more than I can do.”

The three of them nodded slowly, glancing at each other again.

Finally, they nodded.

“Really, only if you guys want—”

“We want to,” one said, his voice tight. “Look, Emma, we’ve never done this, but with you…”

“With you, there’s something here we weren’t expecting,” another finished for him.

“I know what you mean,” I said shyly, smiling.

They glanced at each other again with a final nod.

“This won’t change anything,” one said. “No matter who we are under these masks, know that what we’re feeling for you is insane, and wild, and out of nowhere, butreal.”

I nodded, my heart racing.

Slowly, the first one reached up, and slipped his mask off.

My eyes went wide.

The second followed, but I knew who they were before Landon took his off.

I’d just slept with Malcolm, Joaquin, and Landon King — the triplet princes of Bellhaven.

I’d just slept with threebrothers.

I gasped, my eyes darting between them as they slowly let their eyes drift over me. They weresodamn similar, what with being identical triplets. But you could still tell them apart. Or maybe I had an easier time with it, since I’d helped run research for a piece on them when their father passed a year before.

Malcolm King had a slightly darker look to him — a shadow behind his eyes that was more pronounced than the others. Joaquin had a playfulness to his smile — a cocky sort of smugness that did all sorts of things to my hormones. And then there was Landon — Landon who I recognized by the mark I’d left on his neck from my lips as the one who’d watched me with his brothers before taking his turn.

Princes.

I’d just slept with threeprinces.

Of course, the thought had been in the back of my mind when I’d stepped out of the club with them. But knowing it now, and seeing them without their masks brought a whole new flush to my face.

“Stop,” Joaquin said quietly, moving next to me and cupping my jaw.

“This doesn’t change anything. This doesn’t change the fact that we walked into that club tonight looking for we don’t even know what, and instead we foundyou.”

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