Page 43 of Quest for her Knights
Aaric sits down beside me, his thigh grazing mine as he passes me a glass. “Here you go, Princess. Cheers.”
We clink glasses, and as I take a sip, my eyes meet Ranger’s as he glares in our direction. Is he mad I’m drinking?
Feeling a bit of liquid courage, I decide to press my luck to see what sort of reaction I can get from him. What would happen if I pushed him too far?
I turn my head back to Aaric, who's watching me with a smirk on his face. I lick my lower lip and twirl a strand of my hair around my finger. “This tastes really good,” I say, taking another small sip.
“Glad you like it.” His eyes move to my lips.
“So, what does a strong man like you like to do for fun?” I ask, batting my eyelashes at him before eyeing his biceps. He was bigger than his brothers, but smaller than all of my knights.
“Hmm, lots of things. Maybe I can show you some of them later?”
I bite my lip and smile at him. “I think I’d like that.”
Movement catches my eye as Ranger storms up to me.
My eyes widen as he stands over me, barely containing his anger. “Princess, I need to speak with you for a moment,” he grits out between clenched teeth.
“Ah, I’m kind of busy. Can it wait?” I ask, giving Aaric a side glance.
“No,” he says, motioning for me to stand and follow him.
I stand up and turn to Aaric. “Excuse me for a moment.”
“Of course, Princess. I’ll be right here,” he says, leaning back and placing his arm along the back of the couch.
The touch of Ranger’s hand on my lower back makes me turn to the door and rush out into the hall. Ranger pulls me into a small office a few doors down and shuts the door.
I turn on him instantly. “What is wrong with you? That was embarrassing, Ranger!”
“You’re worried about being embarrassed? Do you even know what you were doing out there?”
“Yeah, I was flirting!” I yell at him angrily. He told me I needed to open up to these lords. He’s made it abundantly clear that he’s not interested, so why does he care?
“That’s not how a Princess should act. You keep it up and they’re going to—” He cuts himself off, snapping his jaw shut and glaring at me.
“What? They’re going to what, Ranger?” I ask him, crossing my arms over my chest.
He’s barely able to respond through gritted teeth. “They’re going to think you’re offering them a free sample.”
“And so what if I am?” I ask with a raised eyebrow. “What’s it to you?”
“Princess, I’m warning you.”
I throw up my hands in exasperation. “What do you want from me? You tell me to try and be open to them. Well, that was me being open! Now you’re saying to stop? I don’t understand you!”
His eyes bore into mine as he stalks towards me. The look in his eyes scares me, not from fear, but from nerves. I stepbackwards until my back hits the wall, but he continues to move toward me, placing his hands on either side of my head and leaning down so close his face is only inches from mine.
My breath comes out ragged as I try to take a deep breath and take in a big whiff of his intoxicating scent.Sandalwood and pine.
“Listen to me very carefully, Princess,” he says quietly as he stares into my eyes. “I need you to tone it down for me. Talk to them, get to know them, but don’t twirl your hair, don’t bat your eyelashes, don’t make sexual innuendos, and for the love of god, stop biting your lip.”
I instantly release my lower lip from my teeth as I stare up at him with wide eyes. He pushes back and turns away, slowly pacing in front of me while I try to regain my composure, going over what he just said.
Was I really doing all of that? Was it really that bad?Oh god! Did I look like a moron?
“You should get back in there, Princess. Just remember what I said.”
