Page 18 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

Kai, you bastard, she’s cold!

The warning whipped through my head and had me quickly glancing away. Up. I found her face and kept my eyes there. No matter how much the surprising shot of heat begged me to look lower.

I walked forward and held the towels out for her. “Or at the very least dry yourself well,” I said, hearing the slight breathless croak in my voice and cursing myself.

She took the towels. “I’ll shower.”

My jaw locked.

Don’t imagine her in the shower. Don’t imagine her in the shower. Don’t imagine her in—too late.

How was I supposed to stop myself when I’d already seen her soaked to the skin?

“Okay.” I wanted to smack myself in the face for how raw my voice sounded as I turned away, charging into her ensuite to run the shower for her. I didn’t know why I did it. I really should have left her room a century ago for propriety’s sake and my own fucking sanity.

In the newly decorated, black and white bathroom, the walk-in shower was situated in the middle of the opposite wall behind a floor-to-ceiling panel of glass that was open on either side. I headed straight for it and turned it on.

Only when I circled around, Esmeralda was standing a few steps behind me. And in the brighter light of the bathroom…fuck. At least she’d moved one arm to cover her chest.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice shaking with her trembling.

I kept my eyes above her shoulders and nodded, then headed past her to escape this situation. But for some damned reason I stopped in the threshold of the bathroom. “Go to sleep, Princess Esmeralda. Please don’t go wandering outside again.”

She was quiet for a moment then said, “I can’t. Sleep, I mean. I can’t sleep… I have insomnia.”

I stilled in surprise that she knew the same struggle as me, and my shoulders softened instantly. I spoke next without hesitation; it wouldn’t have been right to offer anything less.

“Then.” I glanced across my shoulder without looking back at her. “Once you’ve showered, would you like to come down to the kitchen for tea?”

Her answer came delayed again. “Aren’t you going back to sleep?”

I shifted my weight around. “No. I have insomnia too.”

Several more beats of silence passed. “Okay. I’ll come down to the kitchen.”

Chapter Seven

ESMERALDA

I had absolutely no idea what had just happened in the last hour of my life.

One minute I’d been sitting in the ice-cold rain absolutely convinced Kai hated me, that my failure had been inevitable, and how I had no choice but to give up on him.

The next, I was arguing with him, slamming into him, feeling the hot, hard muscle of his body against me, and being dragged up to my room by him.

It felt so surreal that the cogs in my brain froze, halting all my emotions. Even as I'd showered and changed, except for the constant bucking of my heart, I'd felt nothing.

But as I walked down the silent corridors of Chaukham Palace towards the kitchen in an oversized grey T-shirt, black leggings, and slippers, my emotions came back to life with a sudden jumpstart of my heart. And with vengeance.

Oh gosh, oh shit, oh fuck…

Forget that my nerves were buzzing enough for a fusion reaction, I was so fucking embarrassed over taking so long to realise my soaked pyjamas were completely see-through.

But with what little dignity I had left after flashing Kai, I tipped my chin up and headed through the swinging kitchen doors. “Prince Kai?” I called out once I found my voice.

“Over here, at the back.”

My heart skipped a beat, sending a wave of blood to my skin. I felt like a skittish cat, my hairs standing on end, but I craved this man’s attention too much to run away, so I headed towards his voice. When I found him in front of a stove near the back of the kitchen, my stupid heart missed a beat again. Then raced off into the sunset like it was the end of a show, leaving me struggling for air.

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