Page 11 of Regally Binding

“It’s milk one sugar like you asked for at the palace. I would’ve added whisky for medicinal purposes, but I can’t find any alcohol,” he said quietly. The heat of his hand penetrated the blanket, warming Liss’s skin as her knee trembled beneath his touch.

“I don’t drink much,” she replied. Bear raised an eyebrow, giving his ordinarily stoic face an unexpected cuteness.

“You’re shivering because of the adrenaline.”

She stilled, mesmerised by the rosy hue of his lips. It was as if his presence filled every space of her flat and mind so that nothing else existed. Liss sat on her hands to stop herself fromreaching out to him for further comfort. What was it about his brown eyes that held all her safety within them?

His tongue brushed his lips as he fixed her with an unwavering gaze. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, and the fingers beneath her body trembled as she fixed him with her stare. She was cocooned within promises he hadn’t uttered.

“Hand, please,” he commanded. Something gentle hid behind his request, and she pushed her closed hand out of the top of the blanket and presented it to him. He ripped open the chocolate with his teeth. He didn’t break eye contact as he opened her hand with his thumb and placed the open chocolate bar into it. He held his thumb there, warming her hand.

He stared at her mouth as she slowly licked her lips. Liss dragged her lower lip into her mouth while he held her knee down. It stopped her trembling temporarily.

“Bear, in here now,” Strike shouted from the hallway, breaking the spell between them.

“Keep wrapped up and drink your coffee, Princess,” Bear said before striding out of the room.

“Fuuuuuuuck,” Isla said, elongating the word until it was longer than a Bronte novel.

Chapter Six

The flat was a strange place with all the bodies crowding it. Bear was gone from her living room, although Liss couldn’t stop thinking about the heat of his gaze and the power behind his touch.

Steve’s foot tapped repeatedly against the carpet as he waited until there were three of them. Suddenly, he bombarded Liss. “Are you really a princess? Is something going on between you and the ugly guy?”

Liss destroyed the chocolate bar with a few bites.I wanted him to look after me.But no one looked after her. She’d cared for her and her mum before she got ill. Her mum worked three jobs and picked up extra cleaning work, as did Liss, to ensure they survived. Yet, when Bear gave her coffee and implored her to eat, she wanted that. But she was independent, not someone who relied on others, especially not strange men who had no business making her skin blister and her belly flutter. And where did he find a chocolate bar? She barely had any food in the flat, as she ate most of her meals at the pub. She spent her life there.

“Ugly guy? As if. Liss was right. He looks like a young Tom Hardy,” Isla said, handing Liss her coffee. Maybe that was it. A sexy man and an overwhelming day forced her to find solace in a bodyguard who was there to protect her, nothing more. She cradled the mug in both hands, letting it warm her bones. “And I suspect he wants to be in Liss’s—”

“He’s got shit hair,” Steve snapped.

“It’s a dark buzz cut with that extra bit on top that Liss can run her hands through.” She didn’t hear the rest of Steve and Isla’s back and forth.

Instead, she relished the scalding heat from the coffee that filled her mouth and flowed through her throat. From the moment she returned from university to care for her mum, she’d learnt an independence and resilience she hadn’t wanted. As her thoughts continued to spiral, she closed her eyes and focused on Bear, who’d kept her safe.

“Was she, Liss?” Steve distracted her from her daydreams.

“What?” Liss asked, blinking.

Isla nudged her. “Someone on TikTok said you visited the King, and Steve is obsessed with Prince Alex’s fiancée, Marianne. He’s wondering if she was as beautiful close-up.”

“She’s stunning.”

The trembling stopped, but its absence brought a new issue. She needed the toilet. Liss pushed the blanket off.

“I knew Marianne would be beautiful in person,” Steve proclaimed, his hands flat in front of him. “I bet she’s looking for a strong man like me. I could beat Prince Alex in a duel.”

Liss chuckled as she exchanged a look with Isla. “You’re kidding yourself. She’s more opinionated than you, so you two wouldn’t work, and out of the three of you, she’d kick yours and Alex’s arse simultaneously. Neither of you would stand a chance. She’s terrifying.”

Isla’s cackles echoed behind Liss as she left the room and attempted to creep past the kitchen. The door was closed, but Strike’s shouts reverberated through the solid wood. She froze at the sound of her name.

“Stop fucking around with Liss. You’ve only just met her, and yet you’re acting like—”

“She’s going through a lot, and we’re pretty much all she has after her nana left her stranded,” Bear explained. There was anassurance behind his voice that made her pause. “But fine, have it your way. She’s just a client.”

“Wasn’t the last onejusta client? And look how that ended. You nearly cost us the whole business. We’re lucky that we stopped the story from getting out.”

Liss leant closer to the door as Bear mumbled something, but he was too quiet.

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