Page 7 of Forbidden Royal Vows

He didn’t have to look back.

Caius could feel her eyes on him no matter where he went in the ballroom. When he danced with Paula, or the much older ladies who he always liked to favor with his attention because they saw right through him and basked in him anyway. Even when he loitered about near the bar, making pointless conversation with interchangeable nobles.

He made certain to spend the night paying her not the slightest iota of attention.

But just as he, and everyone else, knew exactly where Queen Emilia was at all times, he knew full well that she was returning the favor where he was concerned.

Caius could feel it like her hands on him.

When the banquet was over and all the speeches had been made, and more dancing had taken place until well past midnight, he offered his date his arm as they walked out of the palace with the rest of the guests.

And he felt pure triumph kick in him when an aide stepped smartly to Paula’s side. “Lady Paula, if you’d be so kind, the staff have assembled a selection of Princess Carliz’s private photos for your perusal at the behest of the Queen. If you have a moment.”

“For Carliz, I have all the moments,” Paula proclaimed grandly. She was slightly tipsy and even more boisterous than before, and she waved Caius off as she followed the aide away. “Don’t get yourself in any trouble,” she called back over her shoulder.

Then laughed as she disappeared out of sight.

But even if Caius had been intending to get himself into trouble, he could not. Because another aide appeared at his side, then. This aide only bowed and indicated that Caius should follow him. Then, wordlessly, led him away.

It did not occur to Caius to resist.

He thrust his hands into his pockets, and sloped along after his guide. And he was not the least bit surprised to find himself taken away from the public areas of the palace and into a quieter, lusher wing.

The aide led him down the long, intricately decorated hall and stopped abruptly at a particular door. He knocked three times, then waited for a signal only he seemed to hear.

But hear it he did, for he clicked his heels, bowed his head, and pulled open the door to let Caius inside.

He found himself in a small salon that did not look as if it saw great deal of traffic. And Caius could admit that he was surprised to find himself alone—

But no. Not quite.

Across the room, there were doors that led outside. He went over, looked out, and there she was.

She was standing out on a balcony, her back to him and her gaze focused on her kingdom’s capital, arranged neatly below the palace and marching in tidy lines around the first of the many alpine lakes that were considered the beating heart of this country.

Or so he had read.

Extensively.

He stayed where he was, on his side of the glass, because everything in him was a drumbeat now. Blood too hot in his veins. Pulse pounding like he’d jumped from a plane. She was leaning forward, her elbows propped on the stone railing, and if he was a painter his hands would have itched to capture this moment. The Queen in a moment of reflection. The Queen’s quiet contemplation of the weight of her crown.

Though he knew what she was actually considering just now was the weight of him.

His body hard over hers. His mouth to hers. His—

Caius made himself pause. He made himself breathe.

And then he stepped out onto the balcony himself. And thrust his untrustworthy hands in his pockets as he moved to stand beside her.

She did not look at him. He did not look at her.

But for a long moment, there was only this. The two of them, breathing in the same air after so long.

“I can only assume that this is some kind of a threat, Caius,” she said, eventually. Softly, even.

She was still looking away from him. When he glanced at her, he could see the line of her face, the nose that defined her face and made her so stunning, the shape of her lips. But he could not read the expression in her gaze, or even if there was one.

“I’m not a man who needs to issue threats, Your Majesty.” He even laughed a little. “I would have thought that you would know this already.”

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