Page 13 of My Fated Alpha: The Royals

And that was her mistake.

He shifted in his seat, and a moment later she felt his hand settle on her knee.

Curses!

Her gaze flew to him in shock.

His hand was like a burning tattoo on her skin, making her body quiver, and her knee felt like it was about to turn into jelly any second under his touch.

“Stop it,” she hissed then stopped, realizing she might be heard. She said in her mind,Take your hand off my knee!

But this only made him squeeze her knee, and pleasure that felt both forbidden and painful coursed through her body.

“Please say you are no longer mad that I have let Sir Reginald in our little secret.”

She thought about ignoring him—-

His hand on her knee lifted, only to be replaced by fingers that somehow found a way under her skirt. His hand returned to her knee, and this time bare skin touched bare skin.

—-and changed her mind.

“I forgive you, milord.”

His smile was dazzling and intimate at the same time. “That means the world to me,ma lisse.”

Oh!

There it was again, and this time he had used the endearment out loud!

Stop calling me that,she told him, recovering.

But it was the marquis’ turn to ignore her. Instead, he said in a low voice, “Your sister told me everything.”

Curse you, Fleur.

“Oh?” She worked hard to sound unaffected.

He squeezed her knee, murmuring, “She says you’ve known I was the one since you were fifteen.”

Double curse you, Fleur.

It took her a while to answer, Soleil not wanting to sound breathless as she asked, “Does it matter, milord?”

“Yes.”

She was stunned at the sudden tautness in his voice.

“How is it that you even knew about it before I did?”

She could appreciate why he was genuinely perplexed, and she asked him in her mind,Father has told you about me, hasn’t he?

How he came to bring you up, yes.

Apparently, my otherworlder parent has demon blood, and whatever I inherited from him – or her – sort of leapt in recognition when I saw you.

“I see.” He was grimly silent for a moment. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Her dimples flashed in a playful smile, but her eyes said something else as she said lightly, “You mean why didn’t I beg you, right? Why didn’t I throw myself at you? Because that’s the only way you’d have noticed me, do you not think...my one?”

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