Page 107 of The Broken Prince

“I don’t care,” she snapped. “I’m the princess, and I’m telling you to come with me.”

I sighed as I walked toward her, the most irresistible woman I’d ever met. She made her demands without apology. Didn’t mince her words with diplomacy and bullshit. She was straight to the point—and I loved that about her. “I think that arrangement will be uncomfortable for your father once he returns—”

“I’m a grown-ass woman, and I can do what I want. I can sleep with whomever I want. Now get your shit, and don’t make me ask again.”

Her fire sent flames down my spine.

“We could all die tomorrow.” She came closer to me, her long hair in a beautiful braid, her chest exposed in a low-cut nightdress that highlighted the plumpness of her tits. “And I’m not spending my last night on this earth alone when I could have spent it with you.”

I couldn’t just see the power in her stare, but I could feel it. I could feel her desperation for me. Her need. The kind of need that would never die until she got what she wanted. I gave a sigh before I grabbed my bags off the bed and followed her to her bedchambers. They were on the other side of the castle, far too big for a single person. There was a four-poster king-size bed against the wall on the rug, curtains pulled open over the windows, a sitting room that faced the window and the balcony, and a hallway that led to a bathroom.

I placed my things on one of the dressers and looked out the window, seeing that it was nearly dark. The sky still had a hint of blue in it. The fireplace had a fire, and small candles had been lit around the room.

She sat on the couch in her nightdress, the glow of the fire licking her soft skin. The dress stopped just above her knees, but when she sat down, it rose a few more inches, revealing thighs that I’d kissed many times.

I joined her on the couch, seeing the way her braid fell down her shoulder, the way her beauty intensified in the firelight, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to leave, even if King Rolfe asked me to. I’d never had a full night with her, always had to watch her leave in the middle of the night or rush out when the guards came knocking. To have her all to myself…it was a fantasy.

A rush of sadness filled her, a crash after a high, and her eyes glazed over in despair.

I loved feeling her desire, the way she wanted me, even the way she loved me. But I hated feeling this. “He’ll return.”

She turned to look at me, the fire crackling in the background.

“With your uncle.”

“How do you know?” she asked quietly.

“I just do.”

“I’ve said goodbye to my father more times in the last few months than I have in my entire life.”

I knew the pain of losing a parent, and I never wanted her to feel that.

“I just want it to end.”

“I know.”

“But I also don’t…” Her eyes deepened as she looked at me, full of sorrow, full of want.

I knew exactly what she meant. I wanted this war to end so she would be safe, but the second it was over, so were we.

Her eyes dropped, like she couldn’t look at me when she spoke. “Why…? Why does it have to end?”

It was the conversation I never wanted to have, but I’d forfeited the right to forgo it when I’d told her I loved her. Now I was saddled with obligation. Now I carried the weight of a commitment that I’d tried so hard to avoid.

“Is it because your father and brothers live so far away?” Her eyes were still down. “Because I can understand that. It would be really hard to leave my family. But maybe…maybe, we can go back and forth every six months or something…”

This was painful. Fucking painful. “It’s one of the reasons…but not the only reason.”

Her eyes lifted to mine.

“There are things you don’t know about me, baby. Things I’ve never told you.”

She inhaled a slow breath, her eyes bracing for a punch to the face.

“I’m immortal. And at this moment in time, I’ve lived one thousand five hundred and twenty-five years. My birthday was last week…”

Now her breaths quickened as her eyes flashed. Inside her body, there was a surge of shock, a stone that disturbed the water.

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