Page 17 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

She’s a princess. Remember that, Kai? A crown princess. Currently higher in position than you.

But I was pissed off for reasons I couldn’t even properly explain. “You will thank me tomorrow morning when you wake up dry and well.”

I latched onto her hand—which was wrong of me on so many levels, and had I had a single rational thought left, I would never have done it—before she pulled away again.

I couldn’t imagine it was anything other than indignation that flashed in her eyes as she twisted her small, soft hand in my larger, rougher one. “Prince Kai.”

“We are going inside,” I said, trying to tug her back under the umbrella.

She leaned her weight away. “Prince Kai, you cannot—”

“Esmeralda!”

I made two mistakes.

One, I had dropped her title without her permission and yelled at her. Again.

Two, I pulled at her too hard. Way too hard.

Instead of dragging her under the umbrella, I dragged her straight into me. Flush against me.

I could feel. Every. Wet. Inch. Of. Her. Body. Through every piece of clothing I was wearing.

Every curve. Every dip. Like she was naked. And once that realisation, was in my head, I couldn’t unthink it. And I definitely couldn’t unfeel it.

The surprising swell of her breasts, soft, soaked, and squished to my chest. The full curve of her thighs. The size of her, slim yet curvaceous. Small. The top of her head wasn’t quite level with my shoulders, but she fit perfectly against my taller, wider frame.

And then there was her ridiculously pretty face. Nobody should have had the audacity to be that pretty. Droplets trailed down her skin, her eyes grey under the lighting, big, beautiful and entrapping. Her cheekbones were delicate but high, the arch of her brows was strong, and her supple lips were just parted.

Whatever frustration I had been feeling was forced to move over as a new emotion entered the mix.

The kind that made my breaths feel hot and heavy in my lungs and made me lose focus on everything but her. It slipped low inside me, tracing the path of her body down until it reached my stomach. Lower.

If I hadn’t registered the disgusting prickle of dampness settling across my shoulders, I might have fallen into the clutches of the tempting feeling. But I snapped out of the trance, not releasing her hand, just remembering that she was soaked to the bone, that I hated rain, and we needed to get back inside quickly.

Without offering Princess… Forget it, I already dropped her title anyway—Esmeralda the chance to argue otherwise, I dipped my head and charged for the door, pulling her behind me.

“Prince Kai,” she called.

“Would you please place this somewhere to dry and then lock the doors?” I said to Raj as I stepped into the warmth of the palace and handed him the dripping umbrella. I hardly stopped in my stride through the hallway.

“Prince Kai,” Esmeralda snapped, tugging for her hand, demanding my attention.

I gave it to her. I stopped and swerved around, meeting what she clearly intended to be a fierce stare, if she were an angry kitten that is. She was so close that I noticed the green speckles that coloured her greyish-brown eyes before her long, wet lashes fluttered and she shifted back meekly.

She must’ve seen the silent warning in my heavy stare because she didn’t utter a sound after that, and soon enough I reached her room.

I opened the door with my free hand, turned on the lights, and pulled her inside, closing the door behind us. It wasn’t polite to say the least. Not to mention the back of my neck was crawling from the way my hoodie was soaked and growing uncomfortable. But I didn’t care in that moment. All that mattered was getting Esmeralda warm and dry.

“You need to get those wet clothes off and take a hot shower,” I instructed and headed into the walk-in wardrobe just like the one in my room. I grabbed two fresh white towels from one cubby along the back wall and headed back out. “Or—”

All the syllables disappeared from the tip of my tongue when I looked at Esmeralda. For the first time, I saw her properly in full lighting, standing with her arms softly wrapped around her belly.

I saw far more than what I probably should have been seeing of her. All the golden warmth of her bare skin layered under the wet baby-pink nightshirt and shorts clinging to her slim, curvy body.

As well as the fucking white lace of her bra and knickers underneath.

This time, the hot, heavy feeling punched me right in the groin, gripping my bloody balls with surprising strength. It was so tempting to just stand there and stare and take my fill of her.

---