Page 22 of Royal Guard

She gave me a sly look.

“Someone back home?” I asked, excited. I ran through the possibilities in my head. I hoped it wasn’t Jakov, because I’d seen him looking with puppy-dog eyes at Simone, one of my father’s maids.

“Maybe,” she said airily. And we both grinned. This is what I love about Caroline: she makes me feelnormal.She has to call meYour Highnesswhen other people are around but when we’re in private she’s like a sister.

Then I glanced at Garrett...and swallowed. His eyes were locked on my hips as they gyrated, on the denim stretched tight over my ass as it thrust back and forth. I’d never seen him look quite so...hungry.And I felt the answering swell of heat in my core, sliding down to my groin to turn into slick wetness.

“That doesn’t look like ‘nothing,’” whispered Caroline in my ear.

I flushed again and led her back to the table. Garrett’s eyes tracked me the whole way, the heat of his gaze burning through my clothes and melting my core. I’d never been looked at that way before. Most men didn’t dare to lust after a princess so openly, or they thought I was too noble, too innocent and sweet.

Garrett looked at me as if I was special, as if I was up in the clouds. But underneath there was that fierce, lashing heat that wanted to grab me and drag me right down to earth, pin me with a kiss and rip my dress off and—

Our eyes met. Locked. I caught my breath. We stared at one another for one, two, three beats of my racing heart. Then we finally managed to tear our eyes away.

Garrett leaned across the table towards Emerik. “So...you’ve guarded Kristina for a long time?” His voice was still gruff, but I could hear him trying to sound friendly. He was doing his best to get along with the older man, and I gave Emerik a sharp look:play nice!

“I’ve been with her family for three decades,” said Emerik. “It’s a great honor.” He still sounded a littlestiff, as if a conversation with Garrett was beneath him, but he couldn’t stop the emotion creeping into his voice on the last few words. It reallywasa great honor for him.

“And Jakov joined us just a few months ago,” I told Garrett. “Graduated top of his class in the army. The youngest ever to qualify as a royal guard.”

Jakov flushed, nodded his thanks and excused himself to go to the bathroom. I sighed as I saw Emerik’s hate-filled gaze follow him all the way there.

Garrett saw it too. “What am I missing? He seems like a good kid.”

Emerik gave him a disparaging look. He was too polite to speak his mind, of course. So, with another sigh, I explained.

“Jakov was born in Lakovia,” I said. “But his parents are from Garmania. Jakov was one of the first people with Garmanian heritage to enroll in the army. And the first to become a royal guard. It was hard for him: he had to train alongside men whose families had been killed in the war with Garmania. He still gets hate mail, every day, from people who see him as the enemy. But having him guard me is such an important symbol. It sends a message that it’s time to move on.”

Emerik scowled, got up and stalked away.

“But a lot of people aren’t ready to move on,” Garrett rumbled, watching him.

I nodded. Emerik never said anything openly against Jakov but everyone could feel the hate and distrust bubbling away just under the surface. They were rarely paired together: it just happened that they were on shift at the same time on the plane and now they were the only two guards left. “We can’t go back to all that,” I muttered, half to myself. It was warm inthe rib shack but my skin suddenly felt chilled by memories of cold, damp stone. “I just want all of us to live in peace.” Then I shook my head and gave a tired laugh. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get preachy.”

But Garrett shook his head. “Didn’t sound preachy. Peace is good.”

I could hear the pain in his voice. Peace was good...because he’d seen enough of the alternative. Our eyes met and he quickly looked down at the table. He already knew what I was going to ask him.

“Everything you did on the plane and on the highway...you must have been a great soldier. Why did you quit?”

He still wasn’t looking at me. “I didn’t quit. They discharged me,” he said at last. He spoke as if there was a huge weight pressing on his chest.

Without thinking, I reached out and put my hand on his. I couldn’t stand to see him hurting like that. “What happened?” I whispered.

“A mission went wrong,” he said. “We lost some people.” Then he shook his head:enough.His eyes flicked up to meet mine and there was such anger there I actually drew back, shocked. But it wasn’t flaring out at me. It was all turned inward, tearing away at himself. And I could feel how his whole body had locked up tight with emotion.

It wasn’t that he wouldn’t talk about it. Hecouldn’ttalk about it. God, there was so much going on under the surface of this gentle giant, so much people didn’t see. “I’m sorry,” I said.

He nodded. Looked away, unable to meet my eyes.

I thought of darkness and cold stone. My own memories of war and the nightmares they still brought. Garrett was my opposite. But what if we weremore similar than either of us had thought?

That night, I lay in bed unable to sleep. I tried one of the trashy magazines Caroline had lent me but eventually I slapped it down on the bedside table, nearly knocking over the lamp. There was too much going around my head: the plane, the attack on the convoy, Garrett….

I squeezed my eyes shut.No! Don’t think about him sitting on the bed behind you, the mattress creaking under that big body. Those strong arms wrapping around you, making you feel safe. His lips at your ear, that deep Texas rumble as he tells you what he’s going to do to you….

I opened my eyes and saw my pile of suitcases in the corner, each with their royal crest. When all this was over, I had to go back to the palace and be the Princess my people needed. I had to help my father, learn from him and, one day, take the crown and rule. I’d marry some man my mother found for me, someonesuitable.That was my job.

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