Page 9 of Her Red Hot Secret Royal Fling

“You’re going to be wrecked in the morning.”

He froze.

She was awake.

To confirm that, her eyes opened, a little groggily.

“Aren’t you tired?” she asked, pushing up onto her elbow, to see him better.

Disaster. The sleeping bag slid down, revealing more of her body to him. He closed his eyes in instant rejection, but it was too late. His body was growing tight and hard. He tried to think unsexy thoughts. He tried to think about disgusting smells andhis friends and off food and anything that might quell his body’s rampaging needs, but it didn’t help. Because Sofia was right there, at the front of his mind, all he could really focus on. And if he shifted, just a little, they’d be touching.

“No.”

“Why not?” She stifled a yawn.

“Why are you awake?” He turned it back on her.

“I’m…” but she stopped talking, quickly after beginning.

“You’re?”

“Don’t be mad.”

Amusement quirked his lips and he clung to that emotion. It was a hell of a lot better than white-hot need. “Okaaaay.”

“I’m cold.”

“In that thing?” he asked, gesturing towards her sleeping bag.

“It’s cold,” she insisted. “I can’t help it if you’re acclimatized and I’m not.”

He could suggest she grab a jumper out of her backpack. Surely, she’d brought something for warmth. But naturally, there was another way he could warm her up. If she was game. Ifhewas game. But suddenly, it became an important test for him, to see if he could touch her and keep that line drawn. And maybe it was also a way to give himself part of what he needed. Maybe holding her close would assuage the worst of his wants, so he’d be able to function again.

“Want me to warm you up?”

Even in the darkness of the tent, he saw the way her eyes widened, and he heard her sharp intake of breath.

“What—do you mean?—,”

“By holding you,” he said, voice low and rumbling. “With all our clothes on—purely for body warmth.”

“Oh, right.”

The air ticked and groaned with the weight of silence. He held his breath, surprised by how important her acquiescence was to him. Regardless, it was her decision; he had to wait. And wait.

“We can try it,” she said, after a beat.

He realised, then, that he’d been perfectly split down the middle. Half hoping she’d say yes, half hoping she’d say no, because sanity definitely lay with the latter.

“Okay,” he said, like it wasn’t a big deal. “Stand over there a second.” He nodded to the corner of the tent and saw that she was indeed shivering. So definitely not a ruse then. He moved quickly, unzipping their sleeping bags then retracing the zip lines so that they were joined together as one far bigger, two person sleeping bag.

“I didn’t know you could do that.”

His response was to gesture for her to slide into the pouch he’d made.

With a hint of reluctance that he definitely shared, she did as he’d said, slipping down between the soft fabric until only her blonde head was visible.

Knowing that this was going to be the ultimate test of his strength, he did the same, shifting behind her and taking a deep breath before putting an arm beneath her and drawing her back against his chest. She was all soft and luscious, and her hair smelled like ocean salt. Her shirt had ruched up a little and his fingers grazed the warm flesh of her bare stomach; they both breathed in, and he moved his hand quickly, to pull her shirt back down. It wasn’t like a piece of cotton was much defense, but at least it was a barrier of some sort.

---