Page 69 of Royally Rivalled

I looked at her, dead on. “Astrid, you do my head in—in a good way. Sometimes, I feel frightened. If I had half your maturity and independence at twenty-two, I would be this year’s job market crown jewel.”

She smiled. “I think that’s a compliment?”

“It’s a massive one,” I said. “But we’re not here to talk shop. Tell me how your day was after I last saw you.”

forty

ASTRID

I layon my bed next to Parker. He popped over while everyone was out. I knew the plan was to make dinner and then screw around. As I couldn’t cook, dinner was a disaster, and we resorted to an order from the nearby kebab shop. We’d made it to stage two. He said he wanted it to feelmeaningful. Meanwhile, I just wanted to climb him like a tree while staving off accusations of desperation. Why was it so hard to strike a balance between unbridled hate-fucking and sensitive, sweet lovemaking?

“Those are all your books?” Parker asked, looking at my ever-growing TBR.

“Yes.”

I waited for him to take the piss.

Instead, he asked, “Are they like… sexy? Or are these the ones without the sex?”

I burst out laughing. “If there isn’t spice anymore, I struggle. Not even a fade-to-black will do. I’m not into monsters or aliens. I won’t spurn the occasional vampire, but I mainly read contemporary, sometimes a bodice-ripping historical.”

“Monsters? Aliens?”

“Oh, I’d blow your mind if I told you much more,” I said.

Rolling on his side, Parker stared, his fingers running through my hair tenderly. “What is the hottest thing you’ve ever read in a book?”

“Uh… you don’t want to know.”

“I do.”

I bit, hoping not to embarrass myself. “It’s honestly a historical. He’s the heir when her father dies. She must marry him to ensure the house and lands stay in her hands. It’s a marriage of convenience. There is this scene… she jokes that she cannot even stand to look at him, so how could she shag him?”

“But she does?”

“Would I be telling you this if she didn’t, Parker?”

“No.”

“He gets her all wound up. She’s down, but it’s a bit of a hate-fuck. And she’s not inexperienced. He realises they could have fun. So, he blindfolds her and?—”

“Would you like that?” Parker asked.

“What? To be blindfolded?”

“Yes, princess,” Parker said.

The more I learned about Parker, the less I knew. God, he was gorgeous, though. I got lost in his brown eyes as they looked me up and down. I think he was practically drooling. While part of me wanted to tell him I just wanted him to take me, the other was fascinated by the idea he might follow through with it.

I bit my lip and played with the collar of his shirt. “Uh-huh. I mean, if you want to.”

“I would be delighted.”

I first sourced a scarf and handed it over.

“Hermes. Do youonlyown Hermes? How much do these run?”

Hand on my hip, I asked, “Are you here to question my conspicuous consumption or to send me to the moon on an orgasm?”

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