Page 51 of Resisting Royal

“Are you jealous of an animal, Royal?” She raised an eyebrow at me.

I pulled my own brows together. “No. I’m not jealous of an animal, don’t be ridiculous. I just feel like some gratitude at my presence couldn’t hurt occasionally.”

She rubbed Peter’s ears, and they flopped around. “It’s nice to see you this evening, Royal.”

“Pity excitement doesn’t count,” I pointed out.

“You smell good.” She leaned over and kissed my cheek. “How’s that?”

I shrugged. “It’s a start.”

She pushed past me. “A start? It’s probably the best you’re getting. What were you expecting?”

“I wouldn’t object if you dropped to your knees in front of me,” I said casually, knowing just the words would light a fire inside of her.

As suspected, she instantly turned on her heels, fire blazing in her eyes. “What did you just say?”

I licked my lips, her fire making me suddenly hungry for her closeness. “I’m pretty sure you heard me, Amore.”

“It’s not a matter of hearing you, it’s the fact that you had some fucking nerve speaking those words.” She used one foot to push off her heel, then repeated the motion on the other, “I’m not a whore.”

I pictured her in front of me, her mascara streaming down her face as my fingers held tight to her hair. “You, Amore, are most definitely not a whore. But that doesn’t mean a man can’t dream.”

She stomped toward the stairs, and I bent down, picking up her heels before following behind her. “I don’t get you. You can have any girl, Royal. Any girl, yet you're fixated on me like I’m an obsession. Why can’t you go mess with them?”

“Amore, it was a joke.” A joke she obviously wasn’t feeling tonight.

“The fact remains, why won’t you just leave me alone?”

“As you stomp up the stairs to my bedroom,” I pointed out.

She spun on me again. “What was that?”

“Nothing. I don’t want other girls, Bianca.” She rolled her eyes and continued stomping upstairs.

“I don’t get why not. They would get you all the attention you obviously deserve.” She reached the top of the stairs and turned back to me again. “Why are you following me?”

I held up her shoes, and she grunted her response. I used my free hand and shooed her forward, waiting until she entered the room and gasped, before I continued up the stairs. I strolled the distance to our bedroom casually, knowing why she gasped. When I entered, she was standing in the middle of the room, her hand over her mouth in shock as she looked up.

“You . . .” She started but never finished her sentence.

I watched her amusingly. “I?”

“You made my bunny a . . .” Her words again drifted off.

“I’m calling it a sanctuary.” I walked by her and sat on the bed, looking up at the finished project for the first time myself. It was a well-formed structure of thick piping and faux grass landings, combined with entrance ramps and toy stations. I was impressed, actually. The men pulled it together in no time when if I had the desire to make this structure myself, it would have taken a lifetime.

“But you made it for me?”

“Well, I didn’t personally make it,” I pointed out.

“But you had it made.” She looked up again in wonder.

This gooey excited side of her was making me feel slightly uncomfortable. It was not something I was accustomed to feeling often. “It was selfish really, I was hoping he would stay out of our bed at night. I, um, was thinking we could extend it to other rooms if you wanted.”

She ignored my explanation and walked to stand directly in front of me. “You made Peter a sanctuary.”

Ah, yeah, that’s what we established, right. So instead of answering her, I just nodded. The smile that took over her face was breathtaking. The fact it was directed at me nearly made me weak, but it was the kiss . . . the kiss she leaned down and gave me that nearly did me in. It wasn’t hot, or heavy, or even filled with passion, but it was sincere. It wasn’t coaxed or initiated or hell . . . even asked for.

My heart beat faster as she pulled away, and I had to struggle to keep my breathing regular as she placed her rabbit on the ramp and turned back toward me, her joy beaming off her. I swallowed hard, then mirrored her expression, hoping to hide that I was moments away from collapsing, and only she could save me.

---