Page 50 of Turbulent Fires

With that being said, here I am, straddling a royal beast named Sovereign Thunderbolt. Nope, that’s not a joke, it’s his name. By the look in his eyes when I met him, his name is fitting. I’m pretty sure he has something evil in mind before this ride ends. I can’t blame him. I’d want to buck off a person, too, if they were stupid enough to climb on top of me, well, anyone other than Audrey.

I’m currently chasing Audrey through a sunlit expanse of rolling green hills with a security team tailing us like we’re two fugitives fleeing the scene of a bank heist.

As if Audrey isn’t already perfect, here’s another thing she does incredibly well. Her laughter is flowing from her, drifting on the wind as she kicks her horse and leans down, going faster and faster as we fly over the fields so quickly, the scenery is all a blur.

“Faster, Wolf!” she calls, her hair flying behind her like some kind of mischievous blonde Valkyrie heading to war. I can practically taste her bloodlust. I’m going to get her a Wonder Woman costume for Halloween. Damn, I can picture it now. She’s stunning, and in that tight-fitting costume, we won’t make it out of the house alive.

I bounce on the horse and realize I need to change my thoughts real quick, because getting hard while bouncing on a horse with two men carrying guns behind me isn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done.

“Pink bunnies, pink bunnies, pink bunnies,” I cry out. It helps.

“What?” Audrey calls back to me as she finally slows. I nudge my horse a bit.

“Just trying not to die,” I yell. “This horse is far more conniving than I could ever be.”

“Then you better not tick him off,” she says, laughter trailing behind her.

The security team is several hundred yards behind us now, their radios squawking wildly. I’m sure we aren’t their favorite people on the planet, and they’re being punished, forced to watch the two unruly Americans.

“We’re going to be put on a No-Ride list,” I tell Audrey when I finally catch up to her. “It’s the No-Fly list for royals.”

Audrey’s eyes sparkle. “Well, the cat’s out of the bag, so I guess I’ll use my royalness and have the ruling reversed.”

I smile at her. “I’m considered an attractive liability,” I tell her with a wink that makes her roll her eyes. “They could start using my pictures in training slides titled,High-Risk Civilians to Contain.”

“Mmm, if you get locked up, there will be a female crime spree so they can get locked up in the same jail to violate you.”

I laugh hard at this. “The only woman allowed to violate me is a feisty blonde who needs to be tamed.”

She throws her head back and laughs, then meets my gaze as we stop. She gracefully slips off her horse, and I’m thrown for a moment at her sheer beauty. I finally manage to climb down, my legs a little shaky. I look at my horse, who completely ignores me as he starts munching on the fresh, bright green grass.

“Okay, Thunderbolt, no hard feelings. Please don’t inform the queen I insulted your saddle. I don’t want to go to the dungeon or have my head chopped off.” The horse snorts as if it understands me and isn’t promising anything.

I move over to Audrey who’s stripping off her jacket and boots. I raise a brow as I look behind us at the guards. Normally, I’d be more than pleased to see her doing this, but not while we have an audience.

She strips down to a bathing suit I didn’t know she was wearing, then runs and jumps into the pond, coming up out of the water with a shriek from how cold it is. Her teeth are chattering behind her smile.

“Come on in, it’s great,” she lies. I laugh. I’ve never been afraid of a challenge.

I strip down to my boxers, then move to the edge of the pond, not quite ready to dive in with how cold it looks. Audrey winds her arm back and sends a flood of water straight at me. Damn! I didn’t need to know how cold it really is. I can’t allow this. Retribution is mine.

I jump in and lose my breath. I’ve been in cold water before, but this is next level. At least I’m wide awake now. Something nibbles on my toe, and I nearly let out a scream a little girl would be proud of.

Audrey sees the look on my face and starts laughing so hard she falls under the water for a second. She pops right back up, coughing as she moves in a bit so she can stand. I give her a mock glare.

“Are we not going to talk about the possibility of eels sucking our blood?”

“We’re in a private royal pond,” she says between giggles. “Only dignified eels are allowed in this water. They’d never dine on a peasant such as you.”

“I’m so relieved that eels have monocles and titles. It makes me feel so much better.”

She splashes me again, then swims away. I catch her in a heartbeat and pull her close. I want to do a lot more than kiss her, but I’m very aware of our audience. I let her go, splash her, then dive under the water. We swim, splash, and laugh like two teens sneaking out of school to play in the sun. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt this free, this happy, this... smitten. Every single time she laughs, it’s music to my ears and I fall a little deeper for the woman I don’t think I’ll ever let go.

When we start turning blue, we climb from the water and lie on the soft grass, letting our underclothes dry as the warm sunshine refreshes us. Audrey curls up against me, her fingers making patterns on my chest. Heaven. This is heaven.

“Tell me something real,” she says.

I hesitate for a moment. I want to share my life with her. I want to give her everything. I smile. “My first kiss was during a game of truth or dare. She shoved a gummy worm in my mouth first, then kissed me. I might or might not have blacked out I was so nervous and excited.”

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