Page 152 of XOXO

“Y-you were a prince and my mom told me to stay out of the way!” She bit her lip as she defended herself. “I thought you were joking when you asked me if I wanted to play.”

“Well I wasn’t.” He rolled his head on the back of the couch, turning so he could look at her, his expression carefully blank. “I tried again and again, but you never seemed to want to have anything to do with me. I should count myself as lucky, I suppose, that you feel obligated now.”

“I’m not obligated,” she insisted as she watched the hurt flash in his eyes. She reached out, touching his arm, struggling to ignore the jolt of electricity that arced between them. “It’s just that…”

She trailed off, biting her lip again. At some point soon, she was pretty sure it would start bleeding from the number of times she’d been gnawing at it.

“You’re obligated.” He smiled sadly, looking away from her.

“I’m… cautious.” She reached out to take his hand and he swung his eyes back to her. “I’m sorry, Max, but it’s hard for me when it feels like there’s this huge thing between us.”

He quirked an eyebrow and a mischievous smile spread across his face. Cassandra felt her face heat for the millionth time and she sputtered out a protest while he laughed.

“I meant your crown!”

He sighed, looking down at their hands—hers tiny compared to his. Her brown skin looked good against his green, and she felt her heart clench as he ran his thumb over the back of her hand. His claws were filed neatly and she ran the fingers of her other hand over them, feeling the blunt tips almost absently. She didn’t know why she felt so comfortable with him in that moment, but she did. It was like she was finally at home in this castle when she’d always felt like a guest.

“My crown doesn’t mean anything when it comes to us, Cass.”

She bit her lip again and gasped when he reached up to tug it free. “I… What do you mean by us?” She kept her gaze trained on their hands.

“Let’s start with friends,” he whispered, tightening his fingers on hers slightly.

“Friends.” She didn’t feel very friendly toward him. In fact, what she was feeling as she inhaled his scent, her entire body softening in readiness for him in a way that was very far-removed from friendship, would probably get her in trouble. But this male didn’t need that from her. He needed someone to be there for him,to listen and have his back during this huge transition. “Of course.”

His smile was so big, all his flashing white fangs showed. “Good. Then can we make this a nightly thing? Having tea and complaining?”

She giggled as he kept up the innocuous stroke of his thumb over her hand. “Definitely.”

“Thanks.” He hesitated for only a moment before he leaned forward toward her.

Cassandra froze as he brushed her cheek with a kiss, his lips grazing her skin as he carefully avoided touching her with his tusks. A shiver ran down her spine but she didn’t let her reaction show, keeping up her smile as he pulled away.

“I suppose we should go to bed.” The words were a low murmur and she held in a whimper at the double entendre.

“Yes.” She surged up from her place on the sofa, releasing his hand and backing away from him. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He waved at her as she left, his expression carefully masked. She didn’t know what he was thinking about, but as she curled under her blankets, the only thing she could focus on was wondering what he would have done if she’d turned while he was kissing her–allowing their lips to meet.

“But the quantity matters–” Maximus cut himself off as Cassandra stepped into the room with the list he’d requested from her. She ducked her head and hurried forward toward him, but the silence in the room was deafening. Confused, she lifted her gaze to look around and saw all his advisors and his guests staring at her, perplexed expressions on their faces.

The question as to why they had stopped talking was answered when she looked up at Maximus. He was sitting at the head of the table, commanding the room easily, but he was staring at her with a grin on his face.

“My king,” she murmured, placing the list in front of him. He snagged her hand from where she’d been about to move it away.

“Why don’t you join us, Cass? I’d love to hear your opinion about this.” She gave him a death glare but he’d already turned away to face the room. “I’m not sure if everyone’s met Cassandra.”

All eyes were turned her way—some curious and some critical—and she felt herself wanting to sink into the floor.

“I’m sorry, my king, I have to finish my duties–”

“Hrusth can handle it,” he told her, referring to her assistant while standing to pull out the huge empty chair that was next to him. “And you know I don’t like it when you call me my king.”

A round of murmurs accompanied the movement and Cassandra knew why. This wasn’t just an empty chair. It was one of the pair of thrones that sat at the head of the table. He was holding out the queen’s throne for her. Her. A lowly servant. She was shaking her head even as he all but pushed her into it.

"We were just discussing the possibility of doing trade with the orc colony to the north. It might be a bit difficult to get there, though."

Cassandra was frozen in the throne, not sure what to do, but soon the discourse picked up where it had left off. She was able to relax eventually and when she finally found the opportunity to give her opinion, Maximus hushed the entire room to listen, smiling encouragingly at her.

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