Page 44 of Royal Guard

I ambled around behind her. Emerik had lent her his suit jacket to wear over the nightgown. It meant she was halfway decent but her long legs were still tantalizingly visible through the gown’s gauzy fabric.

“Put an arm around my neck,” she ordered.

I stepped closer and the scent of her filled my senses. I hooked my arm around her neck. My sleeve was rolled up so it was skin on skin, her touch like silk.

“Like you’re going to hurt me,” she said, her voice trembling a little.

I could never hurt you.I cinched my arm tighter and felt her swallow. Her body was in contact with mine all the way from neck to ankle, her ass just grazing my crotch. There was a lull in the passing traffic and suddenly it was very quiet, the only sound the wind whipping our clothes.

“You have to form your hand into a point, like this,” She pressed her fingers together into an arrowhead. “And then with your middle finger you have to strike just the right point….”—she reached up under my armpit—”...here.It’s only about the size of a...what are those coins you have? The tiny ones? Nickels! So you have to be precise.” She pressed very gently, then twisted around to check I’d understood.

I nodded, but...when she’d turned, it had made one cheek of her ass press right against my crotch. And now my arm had half-dropped from around her neck and the underside was just kissing the top of her breast. Every time she inhaled, I could feel its soft warmth pressing against me. “That’s it?” I asked. I was trying not to get lost in her eyes again. “It doesn’tfeelvery dangerous.”

I glimpsed something I’d never seen before: a wicked little smile. Her hand pulled back and then flashed up, faster than I could follow, and—

My fingers twitched and then went loose and floppy: I couldn’t have closed my hand if my life depended on it. The feeling traveled up my arm in the time it took me to blink. It slid from around the Princess’s neck and justhung,dead weight. I couldn’t even stop it swinging back and hitting me on the leg and, when it did, I couldn’t feel it. It felt like a side of goddamn beef hanging in a meat locker. “What the hell?!”I grunted.

She giggled. It was the first time I’d heard it: a beautiful, musical sound like water flowing over jewels. “I didn’t do it very hard,” she said. “The feeling’ll come back in a few minutes.”

I gave her a mock-scowl and she grinned, and my heart just lifted. I was so relieved that I’d made her feel better.I did that. Me.Just for a second, it was like we were a couple.

And then I remembered this was our last day together. Tomorrow, she’d remember she was really a princess. And I’d remember I was really a burned-out jarhead who was lucky to get a job tumbling drunk assholes out of clubs.

It didn’t matter how good she made me feel. Tomorrow, she’d be gone.

33

KRISTINA

I was buyingroad snacks before we hit the highway again. I’d discovered that America did road snacks better than anyone else in the world: big bags of crunchy, salty chips, candy in every flavor from strawberry to cola and ice-cold soda to wash it all down with. I was so absorbed trying to choose between grape and watermelon candy, I bumped into Jakov, which was like bumping into a wall. His big fists were full of a selection of candy and he was glaring at it, trying to decide. All of the packets had one thing in common. I grinned: I’d never known that about him. “Cherry’s your favorite flavor?”

He looked up, startled, and blushed.

I frowned. What was embarrassing about that? Unless...I drew in my breath. “Is itsomeone else’sfavorite flavor?”

He looked everywhere except my eyes.

“My father’s maid?” I asked, my voice rising in excitement. “The one with the long red hair?”

He was flushing down to his roots. “Simone,” he mumbled. I’d never seen him embarrassed before. It was adorable. And after all the horror of the last few days, it was a relief to hear about something sweet and positive. “I thought she might like a gift from America,” he said.

“That’s agreatidea. Buy all of them!” I pushed him towards the checkout.

But he shook his head. “I haven’t told her how I feel.”

“Why? Tell her!”

“For one thing, it’s against the rules.”

I sighed. That stupid rule. If Caroline and Sebastian hadn’t had to creep around in secret, we would have known she was messaging him a lot sooner. “I’m going to talk to my father about getting that rule lifted,” I told him. But then I frowned at his expression. “It’s not just that, is it?”

He shook his head. I could see the doubt in his face: he wasn’t used to sharing his problems with me, or maybe anyone. But this whole experience had brought us all closer together. “It’s her father,” he said. “He’s in a wheelchair.” He met my eyes. “Since the war.”

“Oh, Jakov…” His guilt over what Garmania did to us in the war was something he carried around all the time, a crushing weight on his shoulders. But now it was cutting him off from the person he wanted to be with. “Talk to her,” I said gently.

“What if she hates Garmanians?” He was staring off across the store, unable to meet my eyes. “A lot of people do.” He swallowed. “I’ve liked her for so long. If I talk to her and I find out she hates us….”

I nodded slowly. I understood. The whole vision ofher he’d built up would be destroyed. I didn’t know what to say. But there was something Ididneed to say and now was as good a time as any. “Jakov, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I thought you were the traitor.”

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