Page 107 of Falling Princess

I brushed my fingertips over his knee. Glancing at where his sweater covered his groin, I’m fairly sure he’s aroused. I certainly am.

“Right. We can’t be caught. I won’t risk being taken away from you. Not now, when you’re safest with me at all times.”

“All times?” I raised one eyebrow suggestively.

He chuckled. “You’re going to be the death of me. Not quite that close.”

I pouted.

“It’s torment for me, too, Princess.” He hesitated. “I’ll think of a solution for your marriage problem before the end of the year. Just don’t make any more offers.”

“You could...marry me.”

He blushed. It’s ridiculous, the way he does that. He may be an assassin, but he’s also a bit shy around girls. I can’t help but smile.

“I’d like that very much,” he says softly. “Once all this is over.”

Meaning, he still has work to do on behalf of the country. Secrets I’m not supposed to know about.

He gently brushed the back of my hand with his fingertips. “Wait for me, Zosia. We’ll find a way. Put them off, if you must.”

“I will.” I swallow. My heart beats like a hummingbird in my chest. “Does that mean we’re engaged?”

Seems a bit sudden, but I want to put a label on this. I want to know what we are together. Can I even call him my boyfriend? My first ever?

Lorcan leaned in again. “Not yet. You’ll know when we’re engaged, because I’ll ask you. Properly.” He’s laughing at me. Shy, but arrogant in his way. Kenton was right about that. “We have an agreement in principle.”

“A secret agreement in principle,” I whisper, letting my lips brush the edge of his ear. I felt him shudder. A thrill slammed through me.

“Yes.”

He turned to press a soft kiss against my cheek. “In the meantime, we should try to avoid being alone together. You’re too tempting.”

This time, I scowled outright. Lorcan’s eyes crinkled at the corner, and his mouth quirked up in a satisfied smirk. Only later did it occur to me that I handed him everything he wanted without gaining the commitment I wanted from him. He had my full attention and the promise that I would forgo any other suitor, while all he promised was the possibility of a proposal at some point in the future. Nothing more.

In retrospect, my negotiation skills needed work—and so did my confidence.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR

At the end of February, my father called us to Paris for a two-day conference. Cata would join us there and return to Scotland.

“I can’t decide which I’ve wanted to do more—see the Louvre or go shopping,” Raina bounced on the soles of her feet as we all piled off the train with our luggage and headed for customs. As we’re not citizens of an E.U. country, we have to go through the whole process of getting our passports stamped.

Worth it.

I loved everything about Paris. The elegant mid-rise apartment buildings, the history, the chance to practice a language I rarely get to use. I’m fluent but rusty.

Raina’s French is better, since she’s kept up with studying it while I’ve let my extracurriculars slide. (I will have that damn degree in hand before I’m marched down the aisle in June. I fought for this; a degree will help me be taken seriously when I’m queen, even if I never have a chance to become a researcher. It’s something I’ll have earned all on my own.) Kenton’s French is mediocre at best, Bashir and Lorcan’s nearly nonexistent—at least, it was when we left.

Lorcan, however, is full of surprises. He spent the trip studying a language app and emerged from the Chunnel with a functional vocabulary. His talent for memorization is both enviable and admirable.

We settled into the hotel, a suite not unlike our dorm but without as many bedrooms and no real kitchen, to Lorcan’s dismay. He and I remained constantly near one another but otherwise try not to interact, lest we give ourselves away.

Raina insisted upon dragging Lorcan and me to the Champs Élysées while Bashir and Kenton hung back at the hotel, waiting for my father and Cata to arrive with the rest of the guards.

Raina knew full well that once they got in, we wouldn’t be allowed to go anywhere crowded. Lorcan kept trying to shut it down, but ultimately, we overruled him.

“Come on, this is the fashion capital of the world!” Raina set out with a dizzying itinerary. I’ve never much cared about clothing, since I typically get little say in what I get to wear outside of campus. If given a choice, I’ll usually opt for anything soft and comfortable. Leggings. Sweaters. Jeans. Converse.

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