Page 101 of Regally Binding

“Bear—”

“Yes, Princess?”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, in the sappiest way I can, that I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you. I know it’s only been a couple of weeks, and I don’t want to scare you with the big declaration. But I know that I’m not good enough even to sit next to you, let alone be loved by you. You’re intelligent and savvy, a member of the royal family, but more than that, you make me laugh, you make me sing and, well, you rock my fucking world. I want to be someone who doesrelationships, but only with you. I know it’s been two weeks, but you’re it for me, Liss.”

She stared at him. He licked his lips slowly, and she gripped the heart talisman so tightly that it would leave an imprint on her hand.

“Could you love a badass bodyguard?”

The corners of her mouth crept up as he unpinned the waves of her hair. “What are you doing?”

He cleared his throat loudly. “You make me nervous, and I need to keep my hands busy. This is what you do to me.”

Liss stilled his trembling hands in hers. “I’m in love with you too. It terrifies me as much as doing a speech in front of the world’s press. But you’re everything I’ve been looking for. I was hiding at the pub, but with you, I don’t need to hide who I am, and I can do things I didn’t think possible. You were right when you said I’d carried loneliness. But I make sense when I’m with you.” She brushed kisses against his forehead, coaxing him closer until they made out. She hummed against his lips as he pressed his hands into her hair. “But wait. I need you to promise me something.”

“I’m listening, although I’d rather be kissing.”

Liss forced her face into a serious, regal stare. “You must promise me that you’ll cook me food and sing to me every day.”

Bear cocked his head and raised his eyebrows. “Is that all?” He pulled her into his lap.

“And I want lots and lots of mind-blowing sex in all sorts of places.”

He twisted his mouth to hide his smile, but even he wasn’t that good, and soon, he was throwing his head back and roaring with laughter. “Yes, baby. I can give you that daily. It will be a sacrifice, but I’m undeniably committed.”

“You’re it, Chambers,” she sighed.

“And you’re my princess,” he growled as he cupped her face and kissed her hard enough to make her toes curl.

Epilogue

“It’s not going to be perfect enough,” Bear shouted from the kitchen as Liss stepped through the front door. Jeff and Roy barked their hello to Bear as they traipsed mud through the hallway. “You better not be getting the hallway messy.”

How did he know her this well? The curse of living with a bodyguard.

“Nope, all good,” she shouted back before drying the dog’s feet and wiping down the hallway’s hardwood floor. Within minutes, the dogs were racing around the house, chased by Zorro, who lived up to his name. If he wasn’t terrorizing the dogs, he was driving down the local bird population.

Liss giggled as she stepped up to Bear’s naked back and brushed kisses against his shoulders. “The food doesn’t need to be perfect, although I’m sure it will be. However, they probably won’t notice it if you’re still in your black boxers. I don’t mind a naked chef, but they probably don’t want to watch me making ‘please fuck me’ eyes throughout dinner.”

Bear’s shoulders tensed as he stirred the sauce with one hand and squeezed stuffing balls with another. “I didn’t want to get food or oil on my clothes,” he said, grabbing a spoon and lifting a little sauce out of the pan. “Taste this. Is it too herby?”

He pressed his lips together and blew across the sauce before offering it to Liss. He was so fuckable. Even cooking Bear was irresistible. How many hours did they have before everyone arrived? She needed him to blow on her clit with those beautiful lips.

She licked the sauce while fixing him with her gaze. The smells radiating from the food reminded her of the night he’d made her a roast dinner on what they thought would be their last hours together.

“Stop trying to seduce me with your filthy eyes and tell me about the sauce,” he growled. “Too salty?”

“Something in here is too salty, and it’s not the sauce,” she sassed. “It tastes so good that I’m considering covering the man I love in it before licking it off.”

She licked her lips slowly, and he dropped the spoon in the pan before taking her in his arms. “I adore you, baby.” He kissed her hard and grabbed her bum. His erection was perfect, and she ground against him. It pressed against her as it throbbed.

“No, we can’t.” Bear released her, and she sighed against him. “Sorry, Princess. I want this to be perfect. I’ve not cooked for someone’s family before, and when that family includes the fucking royals, the pressure gets to me.”

“Bear, they’ll love you as much as you love me.”

“Impossible. Nothing can get close. I love you more than I ever thought possible, and I’ll tell you that every day until you can’t stand to hear it.”

---