Page 7 of The Princess's Chosen

"I didn't want her," he said. "But I…"

"I know. I know, Owen." I pressed a long kiss to his temple. There was simply no question of Owen approaching Camellia in that way.

Cosmo sank down at our side, a hand on each of us, soothing at our backs, but Owen stiffened at the touch and Cosmo pulled his hand away as I shook my head at him.

"Cresswell, I don't want Princess Camellia anywhere near my or my Chosen's suites. I don't want her anywhere near them, period," I added in a hiss.

"I'll inform the rest of the guard," Cresswell murmured.

He shifted out of the corner of my eye and my hand flew out in his direction. "Not now! Not…just…" I swallowed hard, and Owen let me shift to face Cresswell. "I don't want Camellia to catch you in the halls. If she'll force my Chosen to respond, there's no reason why she wouldn't attempt with you too."

"I am…" Cresswell hesitated and glanced between me and Wendell. "I may be more resistant. I am a shifter."

Had I known that? I didn't think so and Cresswell looked nervous to admit it, so maybe he was unregistered like Wendell and apparentlymanyof my citizens.

"We don't know for sure," I said, looking up at Wendell who crouched at my side.

"You can test it on me, if you need to," Wendell offered gently. "If Thao and I can ignore a push like that, it'll only be Cosmo and Owen who have to be careful while she's here."

I wanted to bare my teeth and growl at the idea thatanyof my Chosen needed to be cautious in my court. That Camellia would evendareto attempt such a thing made me want to race into the hall and tear at her hair.

"I don't think I can right now," I admitted softly, raising a hand for them to see the way it shook. Wendell's brows jumped and he caught my hand in his, drawing it to his lips to kiss the back of it firmly.

"The Hunger wears on you when you use it without—"

"Feeding it," I finished for him, nodding.

"What is your second nature?" Thao asked Cresswell, frowning.

"Oh…a—a grizzly bear," Cresswell said softly.

He was the odd man out in the room, watching us all with interest. And yet I understood in a private and separate part of my mind, that I didn't have room for at the moment, that I had felt almost as strongly opposed to my sister touching him as I did for any of the others. But as Cresswell had said, he was exempt as my Head Guard. I liked him, and I didn't want Camellia to waste him down to almost nothing like her other Chosen.

"Bryony," Owen whispered, hands cupping my waist. "I think…I think I'm just going to go make myself a bath."

I whipped back to him, taking in the slump of his shoulders and the downward tilt of his eyes. "Can I…?" I bit my lip and squared my shoulders, rising up from Owen's lap and then taking his hands firmly in mine. "We're going into the bedroom," I said to the others.

Owen was mine, and I was every bit as much his. If he needed anything right now, even simply a hand to hold, I intended on being there.

"We'll be here," Cosmo said with a nod.

"If we leave the room, we'll go as our second natures," Thao said. "I will bite her hand off before letting her touch me or Wendell."

I sighed and nodded, strangely relieved by the offer, and then I moved to guide Owen toward the bedroom.

"You don't need to stay," he said, eyes not meeting mine after we stepped inside and I shut the door behind him.

I hesitated in place, watching Owen's bunched back as he moved for the screen that hid the tub. "I'll go if you want."

"I…" Owen sighed and shook his head, turning and wearing an open tangle of confusion. "I don't want to be aroused right now, but I don't want you to leave either."

Good, instructions. I wanted those in the moment. "I can be…unarousing," I said, nodding.

Owen's lips twitched. "I'm not sure about that, Mistress." He said the word so fondly it made my chest ache.

I hurried to join him, running behind the screen to start the water in the tub, sliding between it and the wall to perch myself on the windowsill there, twitching the curtains to cover it so that no one would spy us from outside the castle.

"I can be chaste, at least," I said, testing the temperature of the water and ignoring the picture of Owen stripping out of his clothes out of the corner of my eyes.

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