Chapter 17
The royal city enchanted me and so did the little girl sitting in front of me, her golden wings fluttering behind her as she chattered away. That experience on the cliff had been awful, but I felt better than I had in days.
The little girl’s face grew solemn, and she leaned in close. “Can I tell you a secret?”
I nodded. “I’m an excellent secret keeper.”
“I want to be queen one day. Mama says I’m going to be a laundress like her, but if Queen Bronwen can go from being a peasant to a queen, then so can I.”
I raised my nose. “I completely agree.”
The queen’s history was no secret. She’d been begging on the streets one day, plucked from obscurity to be the king’s wife. It was said King Yarron had fallen madly in love with her at first sight. I liked the romance behind it all, but couldn’t help the cynicism that crept in, Gran’s voice in my head.
“Love at first sight? Please. Love, true love, is not given so easily.”
A woman called the little girl and she skipped away just as the prince approached, telling me we’d better get to the inn. His gaze kept shifting from side to side, and he clutched my hand tight as he led me from the pavilion, but then he smiled and I thought maybe I’d imagined it.
It was a short walk to the inn, and I let out a gasp when I saw it.
This was not like the little wooden inn where we’d stayed in Winged. This one was perched at the edge of the city, right on the cliffside, no doubt affording guests sweeping views of the sky and the sea far below. The tarnished gold building rose tall with a stained-glass dome that looked like a rainbow fell from the sky and splashed across it. Green vines hung down the sides of the inn, filled with bright purple and pink flowers that could survive the frigid temperatures up this high. It looked so regal, which made sense. I was traveling with a prince. I supposed he could afford this kind of luxury. Still, I didn’t know how I felt about letting him pay for all this. At least on our journey here, I’d been able to contribute by cooking and building fires, by scouting locations where we could sleep. Here I couldn’t do any of that.
“Are you coming?” Leoni asked from the doorway.
I jumped, realizing I’d just been standing there, staring like an idiot. They must think me so simple for being enamored with every part of this city, from the roads, to the shops, to a basic fountain. But I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t help but be invigorated by this world that was opening up all around me.
I walked up the stone stairs and through the double glass doors that Leoni held open for me.
Prince Lochlan was nowhere to be seen, but I forgot his absence as I stepped inside and gasped at the white marble floors, the sweeping golden staircase that spiraled upward. I couldn’t even tell how many floors there were as I arched my neck, looking upward at that stained-glass ceiling far above and the way it reflected against the walls and the floor.
Driscoll nodded toward glass doors that led to a veranda, which stretched over a cliff, tables scattered about, sky folk—and a few elementals from other courts—sitting, drinking, eating. Tall torches burned bright, no doubt warming the space. “I’m getting a drink,” he said. “You two care to join?”
The offer was tempting, but I knew what I wanted. A warm bath. Gran and I never had the luxury. It was far too much work to heat the water we collected in our rain barrel, so more often than not I’d scrubbed myself as quickly as possible while shivering as I poured icy water over my body.
Now I was practically salivating thinking about a steaming-hot bath. Driscoll had told me that in Elwen they used hot stones underneath the tub to warm it and to keep the water heated so it didn’t cool too quickly, while Leoni said they had grottos in Apolis, in-ground tubs that were warmed naturally, much like a hot spring. I had no idea what kind of method they used here, and quite frankly, I didn’t care as long as it was warm and I could soak for however much time I wanted.
“Thank you,” I said, “but I’m going to go to my room and rest.”
Leoni held up a golden key and tipped her chin up. “Third floor, third room on the right. No cold, hard ground for you tonight.”
She walked toward Driscoll.
“Let’s go get so drunk we forget our names,” he said.
I laughed as they walked away, then took a deep breath and walked up the stairs.
I finally cameto the third floor and walked to the third door on the right, just like Leoni had instructed. The wide wooden door stood before me, and I inserted my key in the lock, but the door swung open.
That was odd. Maybe the servants had forgotten to lock it. All thoughts of the unlocked door quickly vanished. My breath caught in my throat. Floor-to-ceiling windows filled the entire opposite wall—not windows, I realized as I squinted. Doors that slid open and led to a huge balcony. And the view. I walked toward the glass doors, eyes fixed on the sweeping skyline that stretched beyond the jagged green cliffs, that dark blue ocean far below.
I turned to take a closer look at the room with its white-tiled floors, a crackling fire in the hearth, and high-vaulted ceilings. I had an urge to jump onto the four-poster bed. Blue and silver pillows piled on the mattress, and a fluffy wool comforter covered it, but before I could take a step toward it, scents of jasmine and lavender wafted through the air, beckoning me to the bath chamber.
I could just imagine that warm water right now, sinking into it and letting it rush over my skin. I quickly disrobed, goose bumps prickling along my arms as I tiptoed across the chilled floor and into the bathroom.
The first thing I noticed were the shelves of lotions and bath salts, luxuries Gran and I could rarely afford. The second thing I noticed was the massive silver tub, already full of steaming water—and a naked man.
I shrieked and covered my eyes, stumbling, feet slipping on the slick floor as I lurched forward and stumbled straight into the tub—right on top of Prince Lochlan.
I was so shocked I couldn’t move, couldn’t form words. My naked body pressed into his, every single part of me melded to him. His chest was firm under my hands, his body so solid, so strong. His skin was slick, and his... oh, spirits below... his hard length pushed into my thigh, growing stiff. I might have been sheltered, but I’d read enough anatomy—and romance—books, knew about that part of a man and what it was used for. I gulped, my gaze slowly trailing up his chest to his face, his gaze as hard as the rest of him.
“I have to say,” he said, voice low, “this is one of the more inventive ways a woman has tried to see me naked.”
Heat gathered between my legs, a pressure building inside my core. His hard length twitched, and he swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing while his gaze devoured me. It would be so easy to slide myself on top of him, to rock back and forth and get that release my body so badly wanted all of a sudden, despite the fact that I’d never done any of this before.
His hands skimmed my back, so heavy and warm. We were practically fused together, yet I wanted to be closer, to mold myself to him.
“Are you here for the reason I think you’re here for?” His face was pinched like he was in pain from this interaction. “Because a naked woman is on top of me in the tub. A beautiful naked woman, and my self-control is dangerously close to snapping.”
A naked woman. Not me. Just a woman. Because I could be any woman in this situation, and this was how he’d react. This was what he did. He’d probably had sex with countless women in tubs all across Arathia. I would just be another number.
Blood and skies, what was I doing? I came back to myself, trying to push myself off of him but instead I slammed into him again, our bodies slipping against each other, the friction making me gasp as his hard length slid against my thigh. He groaned, and a squeak escaped me as I finally managed to scramble off of him and out of the tub. His gaze lapped up every inch of me while I grappled for one of the towels and wrapped it around myself.
“What in the bloody waters just happened?” Prince Lochlan asked, chest heaving.
“I thought this was my room,” I said weakly.
“You can just say you wanted to see me naked.”
“I. Didn’t.”
Water droplets hung from his hair and clung to the sharp angles of his face, making him look every bit the playboy prince that all the women of Arathia obsessed over.
His gaze dipped to the swell of my breasts, now hidden underneath the towel. Just minutes ago they’d been pushing into his chest, nipples hard. I looked down. Still hard.
I gripped the towel tighter around me. “I truly did think this was my room. Third floor. Third door on the right,” I repeated Leoni’s instructions.
His eyes squeezed shut for a moment as understanding finally hit him. Then he swept his arms wide, resting them on the sides of the tub. “This isn’t the third floor, Poppy.”
“W-what?” I asked. “But I counted, I?—”
“It’s the second floor. You counted wrong.”
“How?” I racked my brain.
“Well, the first floor starts on the floor above the ground floor, where the restaurant is?”
My face flushed, and I suddenly felt very, very stupid. I covered my face with my hands. This was what happened when you’d spent your entire life locked in a tower.
Water sloshed as the prince leaned forward and rested his muscular arms on the edge of the tub. “It’s okay.” He grinned. “You can stay if you want.”
I grabbed a cloth and threw it at him, and he moved back to the other side of the tub, laughing.
“I have no interest in being naked in a tub with you.” Still, I didn’t move, then my gaze landed on his chest, two faint blue lines stretching the length of his neck.
“If you say so,” he said with that teasing tone I was becoming so familiar with.
“What is that?” I pointed to the lines, a sudden urge to trace them with my fingers taking over me.
He cleared his throat. “That’s a long story, and the water is growing cold. You can go into my room and get dressed—unless you want to stay and watch me get out of the tub. I can put on a good show for you.”
I quickly whirled, though my knees went weak at the thought of seeing his full naked body. “I’ll go change,” I said quickly.
He gestured out the door. “Use whatever you’d like. I have clean shirts in my wardrobe. The staff dropped them off earlier. Take one until you get to your room and can get some freshly laundered clothes.”
Blood and skies. It was time to get a grip on myself. I strode out of the bath chamber. I couldn’t fall for the playboy prince and his charms. I very much doubted I was the type of woman he’d fall for, and I was not about to open myself up to that kind of heartache. Because I had a feeling if I fell for the prince, it would be my undoing.