been coached to walk in a demure shuffle, keeping my gaze downcast—especially if men were in the vicinity—while waiting for my marriage to be arranged. After that blessed event occurs, I’ll be allowed the privilege of wedlock intercourse for the sole purpose of procreation so I may squeeze out a future heir and secure Nightgardin’s ancient throne.
Let’s face it...I’m a gilded goldfish destined to swim in useless circles until the day I get flushed down the proverbial drain.
The Alfa Romeo skids on loose gravel, wheels leaving the bitumen as I jerk forward, the seat belt catching between my breasts. My chest constricts. A precipitous drop looms mere feet from the end of the hood.
My eyes widen. I recognize this place. It’s Lovers’ Leap. Once upon a time, centuries ago, two star-crossed lovers took their lives here, jumping to their doom. I don’t know much about the legend’s particulars. Mother, the queen regent, forbade my governesses to fill my head with what she deemed “silly romantic notions.” Fewer novels and more nonfiction was her decree, preferably biographies about selfless women who sacrificed themselves for the good of their countries.
The man slouched in the driver’s seat watches my every move with his enigmatic eyes.
Goose bumps prickle along my legs. When I think of his strong, calloused hand on the back of my knee as he tended to my wound, I go slick between my legs.
At last he speaks. “Got to say, it took me quite some time to place your pretty face, but it’s finally come to me... Princess Juliet.”
I can’t hide my grimace.
“Not wearing your typical Nightgardin pillowcase tonight. That cocktail dress threw me off.”
He reaches out and his big hand covers my bare knee, sliding up. Not far. Only a few inches, but it’s enough to ignite a furnace under my skin.
He squeezes my flesh. Not hard, but enough that I tremble from a full-body shiver, my pulse quickening.
“Time to come clean. What’s your agenda? Trying to start a goddamn war with Edenvale or what?” His laugh is bitter. “If so, lots of luck. Word on the street is that you’re kept away from the media, so allow me to update you. My family despise me. See, I once killed a girl, one about as old as you, Princess.”
“I know this,” I hiss, knocking away his hand. “Do not think to patronize me, Prince Damien.”
“Just Damien these days, doll. I was stripped of titles when banished.” He idly rubs the dark scruff coating his chin. “But if you know that I’m dangerous, and that my beloved family has disowned me, why set me up to kidnap you and create a diplomatic row? Who’s paying you?”
“Paying me?” I can’t help it. I burst out laughing, and good Lord it feels good. At court, I must always remain so serious.
“Proper decorum is essential for a queen,” Mother says.
But yesterday she added a second sentence. “And for a bride.”
“I’m to be married.” My laughter dies a quick death. “I’m not here to create a diplomatic scene. I’m here because palace maids gossip and I happen to have excellent hearing. They say that Damien Lorentz, the banished prince of Edenvale, can give a woman ultimate pleasure. Your talents and skill are legendary, even here across the border.”
Now it’s his turn to laugh. “Is that what they say?” he drawls. “I suppose I have seduced more than my fair share of servants.”
“I’ve just learned that I am to wed Rupert Dingleworth, the Duke of Wartson.”
“Insane.” Damien furrows his brows in obvious disbelief. “That old goat’s pushing sixty.”
“Fifty-seven, but who’s counting? Wartson submitted a specimen to the royal hospital, and the medical report makes it clear that he can still sire children.”
“You’ve got to be joking.” Damien sounds equal parts horrified and humored. “Are you telling me that he submitted his swimmers for genetic testing?”
I nod. “Marriage is for one reason in my world. Procreation.”
“Fucking hell. What a tedious country.”
“It’s a matter of duty before pleasure. It’s how we’ve endured for a thousand years.” I flinch inwardly, hearing my sharp tone. I sound exactly like Mother.
“Fifty-seven,” he says more to himself. “And how old are you? Eighteen?”
I make a face. “Twenty-one last week.”
“Old enough for the Duke of Wartson to pump your womb full of his certified spunk?”
My flinch wipes the sarcastic smile from his lips.
“I’m sorry, Juliet,” he says gruffly. “Your situation sucks. But I don’t see where I fit in.”
“I’m a virgin.” I decide to cut right to the chase. “And as the future queen, I understand my obligations. But... I’ll have an entire lifetime procreating with Rupert. All I am seeking is a way to survive the lonely years ahead.” I lick my lips, suddenly shy. “A memory...a memory of one night experiencing absolute pleasure. And that’s where you come in.”
Damien
“DO YOU KNOW the story of this place?” I ask her as we both stare straight ahead. The sun has set now, and before us lies nothing but a black abyss.
She shakes her head sheepishly, and I try to wrap my head around how sheltered this young woman truly is.
“Centuries ago, a Nightgardin prince—Maximus—fell ass over elbow for Calista, an Edenvale princess.”
She scoffs. “You’re so eloquent.”
I shrug. “You didn’t come to me for eloquence, Princess.” She quiets, so I continue. “The princess was here with her father as the two kings tried to negotiate a peace treaty. Of course, no such thing happened. But when Maximus was charged with showing Calista the royal grounds while the two kings attempted to negotiate terms, it was love at first sight.”
She snorts, and her hand immediately flies to her mouth as her pale cheeks grow pink.
I raise a brow, and she crosses her arms, defiant. It’s a good look on her.
“Love at first sight? Please. Despite my future being mapped out for me without any say in the matter, I don’t daydream about something better. About what could be. I’m not naive enough to believe in fairy tales.”
I shrug. “Believe what you want, Highness. I don’t need to finish the story.”
She grabs my bare forearm, the tips of her fingers branding me with their heat.
“Please,” she says. “Keep going.”
I remove her hand from my skin and place it in her lap, needing the distance.
“I’m not looking to spend the next couple decades in a Nightgardin cell. But—as you wish. I will continue the tale.” I take a steadying breath, wondering for a moment if she felt the same searing touch of her skin on mine. Then I shake my head, banishing the ridiculous notion, and continue. “When the kings emerged from the negotiation chamber, neither Maximus nor Calista was anywhere to be found. But the princess’s lady in waiting was discovered bound to a tree in the woods, gagged so she could not call for help. She’s the one who revealed that the young lovers had escaped on horseback hours before, riding up the winding path of this very mountain.”
I watch her chest rise and fall, watch patches of pink flush the skin on her neck, her cheeks. The same hue as the panties I know she’s got on under that tiny dress.
She swallows, and something about this moment and the silence—seeing