…I was drawn to it.
Except right now, I was very suddenly realizing how impossible us being us would be.
I’d texted both of my sisters, and Adele after the ball had ended, and I frowned as I glanced over at my phone. Still nothing back — from any of them!
My thoughts were interrupted by a creaking sound by the far wall of my bedroom. I froze, my head whirling around to stare wide-eyed at the bookcase covering the secret doorway that led to the emergency escape passage. This was a castle, after all, of course there were secret doorways and passages.
But even as secret passages go, this one was a total secret — meant only for me in case of a life or death emergency. The staff didn’t even know about it. Of course, I used it as a spare closet most of the time, but still.
No one should have been back there, and I could have sworn the sound I’d heard was footsteps. And for one brief second, I wanted to hope beyond any rational thought that it was him. I wanted to believe that somehow, despite the impregnable security of my father’s palace, despite having watched him be escorted from the castle earlier after the ball, and despite the fact that my room was way up at the top of the west tower, that the sound I was hearing was him.
But I knew that was impossible, just like I knew seeing him again, or there being anything further with that dark, tortured, beautiful man was impossible.
My heart started to crack all over again, when the shuffling sound came again from behind the bookcase. An icy feeling crept up my spine.
It’s probably the wind, or this old castle creaking, you wimp, I told myself. You’re imagining things.
But there it was again, and this time, the sound of footsteps was unmistakable. I sat upright on the couch, wide-eyed and breathing quickly. My gaze darted to my cell phone, and then to the emergency line by the door to my room. But the top of the west tower was a far climb, even for guards rushing to save a princess. And whatever was behind my bookcase was definitely going to get to me first.
Fear shot through me as the bookcase-door rattled, as if being pushed from behind. I briefly hefted the tablet in my hand, wondering if it was heavy enough to maim or kill if necessary.
Probably not.
There as a crashing sound now from the passage, and the bookcase shuddered as something slammed into it. The panic rising in my chest, my eyes flailed around the room looking for something, anything to defend myself with. Haltingly, my gaze landed on one of the old swords and crests hung on the far wall above my fireplace. I knew it had to be dull, being ornamental and all, but still, it was something. I darted to the fireplace and tore the sword and shield from the wall, letting the shield clatter loudly to ground as I slammed the emergency button by the door.
I whirled back to the bookcase, brandishing my dull, ancient sword like some sort of crazy person. It was heavier than it'd looked, but I hefted it menacingly as I turned towards the front door and the heavy footsteps beyond it. I already felt braver, stronger, and more ready to defend my place and my female parts.
There was a moment of stillness and the shuffling sounds quieted. But then suddenly with a smashing bang, the hidden door flung open, sending books and trinkets scattering across the floor. I shrieked, raised the sword high in my hands, and swung it crashing down as I charged right at—
Logan.
I knew it was him the second I heard that growl from his lips. I knew it was him the second I ran right into his immovable body, knowing that scent of him anywhere, and knowing there wasn’t another person on earth as broad and muscled and as solid as him.
The sword, still on my maniac downstroke, whacked him on the shoulder, making him grunt as the thing spun out of my hands and clattered to the ground.
I was suddenly very glad the thing wasn’t even remotely sharp.
“Hell of a welcome, Princess,” he growled.
I gasped, my hands landing on his powerful chest as I tumbled into him. I looked up into those fierce, piercing eyes, feeling the heat and the draw of him enveloping me like a blanket.
“It’s you!”
“You were expecting someone else?”
I grinned breathlessly. “I wasn’t expecting anyone.”
“And I wasn’t going to walk away tonight without seeing you again.”
“How did you even get up here?”
He flashed a quick grin. “Your father has two guards who’ll be waking up in a few hours with very bad headaches.”
My jaw dropped.
“They held their posts valiantly, but...” He shrugged.
“But you’re stronger than two guards.”
“Basically.”
I felt my lips pull into a smile, my heart starting to beat quicker inside my chest.
“I can’t believe it’s you.”
“I can’t believe how messy your escape passage is,” he growled. “It’s a death trap back there.”
“It’s my second closet.”
He raised a single amused brow. “A royal princess without enough proper closet space?”
“No, a royal princess with entirely too many clothes.”
I bit my lip, looking up into his eyes. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“I couldn’t leave, not after earlier.” His jaw tensed, his eyes blazing into mine. “What happened earlier, Isla—”
My heart sank a little. This was why he was back, to tell me it couldn’t happen again. Or to tell me it was just something casual for him. And for a second, I hated myself for being naive enough not to see that as an obvious outcome from us coming together like that.
“I understand,” I said stiffly, putting on my bravest face. “It’s fine, you didn’t have to come up here just to tell me—”
“That I’m in love with you?”
Time froze.
“Yeah, Princess, I think I did.”
I blinked, my lips moving without words and my head slowly shaking from side to side.
“What?”
“I love you, Isla,” he said softly. “I love you suddenly, fiercely, and without even knowing where you came from. You hit my world so hard the second I walked in here tonight. But I knew the minute I saw you. I knew the minute my hands touched you for that dance, and it was sealed beyond reproach the instant your lips touched mine.”
His hands moved to circle me, pulling me tight against his body.
“You bring a light back into my world I never thought I’d see again. You make the beast inside quiet, and bring back the man I was.”
His eyes burned into mine as my heart threatened to pound through my chest.
“I love you, with everything I have, Isla,” he said fiercely.
“You love me…”
I said it in a daze, my heart going nuts inside my breast and an indescribable feeling of just glowy warmth spreading through my whole body.
“Now, always, and forever. I’m not interested in courting you,” he growled. “I have no interest in taking this slow, or ‘seeing where it goes.’ I want you,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion and tinged with a growl. “I want you as mine, always.”