Page 30 of Twelve Nights In The Prince's Bed

‘Yes, I know. I heard him making the arrangements and, believe me when I tell you, it will do Adrastos the world of good to be kept waiting.’ Eleanor winked.‘Trust me,’she said, conspiratorially. ‘This is for his own good—and yours too.’

Poppydidtrust Eleanor, and when it came to matters of the heart, there was no questioning who had more experience. ‘Okay.’ Poppy smiled almost her first real smile all day. ‘Where are we going?’

Ten minutes later, they were ensconced in the family’s favourite living room, with a beautiful Christmas tree twinkling in the flames cast by the fire, a glass of ice-cold champagne in each woman’s hand, and the awkwardness of the last few days erased completely by the old, familiar routines that they’d spent a decade establishing.

They talked about Poppy’s next case, and Eleanor’s love life, and skirted around the issue of the hospital visit, which Poppy knew was always difficult for Eleanor as well, just as Adrastos had admitted it was for him. They talked non-stop, so that before Poppy realised it half an hour had passed and she’d finished her champagne. Eleanor had just left the room to top up their glasses when Adrastos stalked in, expression like thunder.

‘I thought I asked you to wait in my room?’

Poppy’s eyes flared wide and she was immediately enraged by his tone. ‘Do you really think you have any right to speak to me like that, Your Highness?’ she asked in a hushed whisper, standing and moving towards him with more than a spark of anger.

‘We had a deal, remember?’

‘No, we had a “date”.’ She used air quotation marks with some enjoyment. ‘And you didn’t do me the decency of consulting me before making plans, so you could have had no idea if I was already busy or not,’ she pointed out. ‘And I was.’ The champagne had gone just a little to her head already.

‘What plans?’ he asked, and then, as if seeing her for the first time, he devoured her with his eyes, in that slow yet impatient way he had, as if he needed to visually inspect every single inch of her.

‘That would be me,’ Eleanor called from across the room, her smile the exact kind one sibling could reserve for the other, the smile of someone who was enjoying needling an older brother just a little too much.

Adrastos glowered.

‘I’m sorry, Adrastos. Blame me. I’ve hardly seen Poppy since you arrived.’

‘We all had lunch together earlier,’ Adrastos pointed out, somehow extinguishing his temper—or the appearance of it—almost immediately.

‘I mean,justPoppy and me.’

A muscle jerked in his jaw. ‘I see. Have you had enough time together?’

‘No,’ Eleanor responded quickly, even as Poppy was already moving to collect her handbag. ‘Now I’d like to spend time with both of you. Please, take a seat.’

Poppy laughed softly. ‘Ellie, you’re making it sound like an interview.’

‘I’m curious,’ she said with a lift of her shoulders. ‘Indulge me.’

Poppy threw Adrastos a look, wanting him to whisk them away, but his features now bore a mask of resignation. He moved to a small sofa, took a seat then gestured with his head for Poppy to take the space beside him. Only it wasnota large sofa at all and Adrastos, with his bulky macho warrior’s frame, took up considerably more than half of it, meaning it was almost impossible to imagine being able to squeeze herself into the seat without touching him.

But the alternative was to choose a different seat and, given that they were trying to convince Eleanor their relationship was the real deal, Poppy had no option but to go and sit beside Adrastos. She perched her bottom on the edge of the cushions. Adrastos leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her exposed shoulder, whispering so that only she could hear, ‘Relax.’

Not likely.

And made almost impossible when he brought an arm to her shoulders and pulled her back a little, positioning her against his body, his arm draped with casual possession around, his fingers grazing the top of her breast so her whole body was an electrical live wire. She drew in a shuddering breath and turned to face him. Eleanor was distracted by the music, changing from an upbeat Christmas song to a slower classic, so Poppy took advantage of that and leaned towards Adrastos, whispering, ‘What are you doing?’

‘You want to play games? I’m going to play them right back.’

His smile was wolfish and Poppy’s body lifted with goosebumps. She didn’t doubt him. ‘What games?’

‘Keeping me waiting?’

She bit down on her lip, eyes shifting betrayingly to Eleanor.

‘Ah,’ he murmured, moving his lips closer to her shoulder. ‘Let me guess. It was my sister’s idea.’

Loyalty kept Poppy quiet. She sniffed slightly and looked away, but Adrastos was not an easy man to ignore.

He moved his body so it almost engulfed hers, so big and broad was he, and Poppy couldn’t breathe without tasting him and smelling him and feeling him in every single one of her senses.

‘So.’ Eleanor looked up from her phone and took a seat opposite, looking relaxed except for the glint in her eye. ‘Tell me about this.’ She gestured from one to the other.

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