Page 108 of My Five Daddies

I’m quiet for a second, my eyes closed, picturing that moment. We all thought she was dead. She didn’t resurface for a fewseconds.

“She says you jumped in after her,” Hazel sayssoftly.

“Not exactly,” I answer. “I told two other boys to go get help. There were stewards nearby that should have been watching us. Then I ran downstream a little bit to a tree that had fallen during the storm. I climbed out over that, and when Jessie resurfaced, I jumped in to grabher.”

I’ll never forget that moment. It was so stupid of me. I shouldn’t have gotten in the water. But I did, I jumped in and grabbed Jessie by the waist, pulling her over to the tree. I grabbed onto a branch and I held us there until the stewards arrived. They pulled us out of the water. We got in so much trouble, I don’t think I left my room for aweek.

“You risked yourself for her,” Hazelsays.

“I only did what anybody would havedone.”

“I don’t think so,” she says. “It sounds reallybrave.”

“And stupid,” I point out. “I could have gotten us bothkilled.”

“But youdidn’t.”

I shrug and go quiet again. I didn’t know Jessie still thought about that. I haven’t been a good friend in the last few years, but I’m going to work onthat.

I turn to Hazel and she’s looking up at me with these wide eyes, a strange expression on her face. I can’t quite read it, though I think I can guess what it means. I suddenly feel something inside of me, almost like I’m back in that moment from when I was a child again. But this time, it’s an excitement aimed towardher.

I tip Hazel’s chin up toward me and gently kiss her fulllips.

She doesn’t pull away. I step closer, wrapping my arms around her, and I kiss her deeper. It’s not the sort of kiss I ever expected to have with Hazel. I know we’re going to have sex and get her pregnant, but I didn’t know what we’d have this between us. It’s a slow kiss, sensual and full of feeling. I don’t understand where it’s coming from, but in this moment, I know I needit.

Slowly, we break apart, and she looks up at me with a little smile. “I guess that’s okay, since we’remarried.”

I smirk at her. “We could do more, youknow.”

She grins and pushes me away. “Keep it in your pants,prince.”

“I can’t help it if you make me want to undress you, princess,” Isay.

She laughs and heads back toward the door. I give her a short head start, gathering myself. I’m hard as fuck and desire pulses through me, but we’re taking itslow.

Soon, I follow her back down to the party. We have a decent time, and we talk to a lot of people that I haven’t seen in awhile. But the whole time, the only thing I can think about is that kiss and the way she looked at meafterward.

12

Hazel

For the restof that night and as soon as I wake up the next morning, I just keep thinking about thatkiss.

His friend Jessie was straightforward about him. She didn’t sugarcoat his past. I know that Nolan has been with a lot of girls, and Jessie didn’t try to pretend that he’s some kind ofsaint.

But he’s clearly very well liked, even though he disappeared from their social circle for years. I think a lot of them respect him for that. I get the sense that these lords and ladies don’t exactly love the direction their country has been going in, and they don’t want to be complicit in it anymore either, or at least that’s what I got fromJessie.

And she made sure to tell me good stories about him, like the time he saved her life. Apparently Nolan is known as a natural leader and a really good guy, although his recent years have been difficult. He doesn’t get along with his father, and his father was notoriously hard on him for his entire life. I think a lot of the people in that room understood why Nolan left court and didn’t come back for solong.

And then he took me up on that roof. It was beautiful up there, so quiet. The city spread out in front of us like it was ripe for the taking, and I felt so good for the first time in a longtime.

The kiss took me by surprise. I don’t know what kind of relationship I actually have with Nolan, which is so confusing considering we’re married and he’s supposed to get me pregnant. But I don’t know if this is just some business deal where we’ll have sex until I get pregnant, and then I go my own way, or if there’s something more between us. I’ve noticed the way he looks at me, which makes me blush, but he’s so arrogant, so cocky, and so handsome. I’ve never had a man like him show any interest in me before. And I’d be lying if I tried to pretend like his past didn’t bother me at all. It just makes me wonder if I can understand or even trust his realintentions.

But that kiss… that was something else, and totally unexpected. He wasn’t trying to fuck me, or to make some crude joke, or whatever. He was just kissing me, like a man kisses you when he really wants you. There was something deep and sensuous behind every moment of that kiss, and I just can’t stop thinking about it. I was dripping wet and would have thrown myself at him at the time, if it weren’t for the last thing Jessie said to me before Nolan cameover.

She had just finished her story about him saving her life. “He’s a good guy,” she said. “Misunderstood. But a goodguy.”

“I think I see that,” Ireplied.

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