Page 60 of Crown of Hearts
“Good night, Your Majesty.” Both Thatcher and Gwen bade me farewell. I left the dining room, my footsteps echoing on the tiled floors before I reached the carpeted hallways.
Halfway back to my room, I let out a yawn, feeling tired and sleepy. Too much wine. The more I thought about it, the more my bed with its silken sheets and soft pillows called out to me.
There were sudden footsteps behind me, and I barely had time to look around before Cai pulled me into the nearest room, which happened to be the library.
“Cai, what are you—?” He didn’t give me time to finish my sentence, kissing me with surprising intensity. All sense and dignity forgotten, I grabbed onto him as he pulled us taut against each other. My hands were in his hair, my arms wrapped around his shoulders.
He walked us into one of the bookshelves and I let out a yelp.
Cai pulled back with a worried expression.
I let out a chuckle and took out the book that had protruded from the shelf just far enough to press into my back.
“Just a book spine.” I tossed the book somewhere and pulled his mouth to mine.
Cai’s hands ran up my sides and I tilted my head back as he kissed my neck.
Heat and something I couldn’t name coursed through my body with every breath. Cai had never kissed me like this before.Flashes of my dream about him slipped through the pathways of my memory. His mouth pressed a kiss to my collarbone before he made his way back to my lips.
“I should go back,” he whispered between torturous kisses.
“Shut up,” I breathed out, and I felt Cai grin against my skin.
“Your wish is my command, Your Majesty.” His kisses slowed, grew soft and sweet. More than anything, I just wanted him near me. There was no denying the sense of safety I felt when we were this close. And as much as I hated to admit it, it was all-consuming. It consumed my mind and my body and the very core of all my senses.
Cai’s hands were on my hips, my lower back, pulling me closer still. I held on to his neck, ran my hands over his strong shoulders. I couldn’t fathom how someone or something could be so compelling. I had forgotten where I was on my way to before, why I was on my way there, and I was pretty damn close to forgetting my own name.
My leg lifted to wrap around Cai’s waist, but the skirts of my dress made it nearly impossible.
Cai’s lips didn’t stray from mine as his hand found its way underneath the heavy material. His fingers started their journey from my ankle to where my stocking ended just above my knee.
As if he had all the time in the world, Cai delicately took hold of the stocking and pulled it down. My entire leg was now exposed to the library as he pulled my skirts up, but I didn’t care at all, not even while knowing that someone could walk into the room at any moment.
Cai’s fingers dug into my thigh as I let out what must have been a gasp. My hands rested on his cheeks, which had a day or two’s worth of scruff.
Part of me found it difficult to comprehend that I was in the library of Mistwood Palace, fighting to catch my breath whilethe King of Norrandale caressed my upper leg. And I had no complaints at all.
Cai’s mouth moved to my neck again and I would have been content to stay like that for ever. He pressed long kisses from my jawline down to my faded birthmark, where he lingered, allowing his teeth to graze my skin.
Something sounding like my name came from his mouth before he kissed me again, parting my lips. My hands were in his hair again as his fingers continued to trail up and down my thigh, teasing me relentlessly.
He pulled away from my mouth for a moment so that he could shift my skirts, lifting my other leg so that both were now wrapped around his waist.
A sigh of delight escaped me as he pressed our bodies together against the books.
There was a sudden knock on the door and a moment of silence before we heard Jack’s voice. “Your Majesty, I’m afraid I require your presence immediately.”
“I’m going to kill him.”
Cai’s breath was warm against me as I tried not to think about how Jack knew exactly where we were and most likely what we were doing.
I let out an uncomfortable chuckle and he gently set me back down.
“I’m coming now, Jack!”
My chest heaved and I wondered how I was ever going to breathe normally again.
“I’m so sorry. But I have to see what it’s about.” Cai apologised while attempting to help me fix my stocking and skirts.
